Blind Love
by Kurogane7
Summary: AU: Yuffie Kisaragi has been sold off to be a maid to a man in Nibelheim. What secrets does Valentine have? Victorian/Vampire AU. Rated M...for future chapters.
1. Transferred Overseas

_**A/N: Don't worry about "Dying", I don't plan on putting it on hiatus anytime soon now like many of my stories. Although I don't think I've seen too many Victorian-Era Yuffentines up and about…not to mention that I hardly see any Vincent-the-vampire stories anymore…well we'll see how it works with this pilot now won't we? As usual, your comments will determine if this is a story worth continuing, so do read and review would you kindly?**_

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Yuffie did not appreciate being carted off to some faraway land—no, especially not when she is afflicted with motion-sickness, and being in this noisy and rickety contraption that the driver had the audacity of calling a 'train' did not help her situation any. No, not when she, the princess of Wutai, the one and only White Rose was likely being sold off to some arrogant old man with naught but blubber all over his body. After the Wutai War, the island nation fell to ruin—in her opinion, the Shin-Ra kingdom was a sore winner; not only did they win the seven-year war with military might (granted, they were loath to admit that they had suffered even worse losses than the Wutainese forces), but they added insult to the injury by cutting the island nation off from trade with any other nation.

Godo had promised revenge against the Western Continent—but what did he do? He sold her off to be the maid of some filthy man—this was not kosher at all! Although she could forgive Godo when she saw the reasoning behind it; with trade being cut off from her beloved home, and a heavy tax being implemented on her people while all people who had immigrated here didn't pay so heavy a tax, the only recourse for Wutai would be to sell her services out to the highest bidder…the economy was so bad that many veterans were forced to become mercenaries with hopes that the money they send back to Wutai would be enough to not only feed their families, but to one day get revenge against Shin-Ra for what they had done. Such was the situation that Yuffie had faced…

However, she was comforted to know that another part of her mission aside from gathering funds for Wutai's revival was that she would be collaborating with a spy in the area she was being sold to…apparently, one of Godo's most trusted special operations agents had defected to the other side during the war—unsurprisingly, the said special ops agent was labeled a traitor to the nation by their colleagues, but little did they know that he kept in contact with Godo via coded messages delivered by pigeon on the eve of a full moon, their leader using his code name of "Izanagi", which was the code-talk among Wutainese spies for "Emperor"…he knew this because he assigned this mission to that special operations agent to work as a mole in Shin-Ra's empire. She was to get in contact with this spy code-named "Tsukuyomi" and to assist him in any way possible without getting in his way. But for now, she was to play the role of a housemaid to some rich man who was probably a spoiled brat.

Before she could think any more on the matter, she saw the scenery begin to slow down as the train came to a screeching stop. Yuffie swore that as soon as Shin-Ra was finished, this driver by the name of "Nero" was going to pay dearly for the hell she had been put through on this rickety bucket of bolts. As she walked out of the train weakly into the sounds of people chattering about in the station, she noted an older woman with graying hair watching her carefully…and with a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Miss Yuffie Kisaragi I presume?" she asked, "I am she."

"If you would please walk with me…we don't want to keep Mr. Highwind waiting."

"Mr. Highwind?"

"He is the carriage driver. We'll talk when we get there."

* * *

The sound of the carriage as it traversed the dirt road filled the air…thankfully it was not a very fast ride, or else there would have been a mess. "Allow me to introduce myself," said the older woman, "I am Elmyra, I live near Nibelheim Mansion with my husband and our adopted children…I'm doing this for my friend, Mr. Valentine."

"Pardon my asking, but what can you tell me about the owner of the mansion?"

"Well, he has been a friend to me for a while now…I can't tell you much about him because I've only known him for a few years, but he has been good to me and my family—it's just that he is more of a listening sort of person than a conversationalist. Of course, me and my children come and visit him at times, and we do enjoy his company, but it seems that it gets rather lonesome in there…given his condition, I am not surprised that he avoids leaving the house as much as possible."

"What sort of condition?"

"I am not certain of how it happened…he refuses to speak of it, but somewhere along in his life, he went blind."

From that point, the entire carriage ride was silent…before the driver pulled the chocobo-pulled carriage over. "We're here y'all," as his spoke, Highwind's gruff Rocket Town accent betrayed a hint of terror in his voice, "hell, even after ten years this here estate still gives me the mother-fucking creeps. I'm a gonna help you two ladies unload and then I'm getting the hell outta here—I always got a bad feeling about this place, so you watch yourselves now y'hear?"

* * *

As she looked over the entire estate while the sounds of the carriage driving away started fading into nothingness, Yuffie knew that it was meant for a rich man—although it did appear to be a bit unkempt, that in itself gave the place an ancient-sort of beauty. The entire building by her opinion was well-made given the ivy that was growing on the walls and columns…and yet, it gave her a sense of foreboding with each step she took closer to the mansion. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the bell ringing—and sure enough, she heard a weight lightly banging against the door.

"Who is it?" that baritone voice sent shivers up her spine.

"It's me Vincent, I've brought a guest with me."

After a few seconds of silence, they heard the sound of the door unlocking, followed by the knob twisting and the door opening. Yuffie noted that the man had hair the texture of black silk running down his head as it apparently split over the shoulders of his black suit, and disappeared into the high collar of his red cape. The man wore a blindfold, and had an appearance that would put a woman to shame. "Elmyra…please feel free to enter with your guest."

The two women could only oblige as they slowly walked into the mansion—as far as they could tell, it was maintained up to basic standard, which was probably why Yuffie was being hired. Well, at least her employer was polite…it was then that the two of them followed Valentine as he felt his way along the walls to a sort of study. After the two women were seated, Valentine turned towards the door.

"I was about to fix a spot of tea. Would either of you care for some?"

"No need Vincent, I'll handle that for you…you've done enough by coming here for us already."

"But I insist…"

Before Vincent could say another word, Elmyra caught both of his fine-looking hands in hers, and started escorting him to a seat. "Vincent, a man in a condition such as yours should not be doing this sort of work. Please, allow me to at least do this for you…you've been a good friend to my family thus far, so think of it as the start of a long-standing debt being repaid. In the meantime, do get acquainted with my guest while I fix a pot of Earl Gray."

As soon as he was seated, Elmyra walked towards the kitchen. "Elmyra is a good woman…her family has actually been good to me from the day I moved in here."

"Yes, she seems kind enough."

Vincent turned to his attention to his guest…although he was blindfolded, Yuffie could tell he was studying her. "How do you like it here in Nibelheim?"

"It's different from my home town, but certainly a very nice place."

"So what brings you here to Nibelheim?"

"Oh work, I seek to help my family back home."

"Hm. You come from the capital of Wutai don't you?" Yuffie looked at her future employer with curiosity. How did he know that? "The scent of sakura about your body was a telltale sign. A shame what happened to your home…I was there on a personal errand before the war…I was entranced by the beauty I was subjected to…and even after I lost my sight, I still remember every detail of Wutai before the war down to the sound of the wind as it passes through Mt. Da Chao."

"What is it that you do Mr. Valentine?"

"I am a pianist—once in a while, I am called to play for some ball that is held in town, or to play a few songs in the local pub at night. My main source of money however, comes from my work as a piano teacher."

"Then how did you come across this house?"

"In addition to my playing in the ball of some of the more well-to-do families, I inherited this land from my father when he died…he left it for me a time ago in addition to a good deal of his wealth."

"I must apologize…I didn't know…"

"There is nothing to apologize for. I hardly knew him given that I had never even seen him as I was growing up…"

Yuffie looked to her employer with a bit of pity in her eyes…but that thought was held when Elmyra walked in on them. "I must apologize…am I interrupting anything?"

"No, Elmyra, you may in fact join in."

"Vincent, how are you getting along with my guest?"

"Oh fine. I was just telling her how I never knew my father…"

"It is good to hear. Vincent, I'd like for you to meet Miss Yuffie Kisaragi, and she will be your maid."

As she studied his face, she knew that there was a slight hint of shock in his face before he regained his composure. "Elmyra…"

"Please pardon my intrusion into your affairs Vincent, but I could not stand the thought of you living alone like you are. I know you can take care of yourself, but please, take her in—if not for yourself, then for me. I can't sleep in peace at night knowing that you're living in this mansion all by yourself…when a burglar could come in and steal things from you…and pardon my frankness, but your blindness makes it easier for them to kill you. Please Vincent, you've done enough by being our friend and helping Tifa out at the pub—we chipped in and hired this maid for you in return…it'll put our minds to rest that you won't be so lonely."

She noted the look of reluctance on her would-be employer's face…it would appear that he is not one for accepting charity in any shape or form, but at the same time, he is not the type of person who would want to hurt your feelings by refusing. Elmyra was taking full advantage of this, and she knew it…that sigh of submission had confirmed Yuffie's thoughts about the man. "Very well then Elmyra, I'll take her in…but do be so kind as to tell Tifa that I'll pay her back for this…this applies to you as well Elmyra."

"No, no…there's no need. Like I said, you've done enough for us already. The only thing you need to pay for the moment is the hourly wage of this little treasure you have now."

"It shall be done…but regardless if this was supposed to be a gift to me, I will find a way to pay the two of you back."

Elmyra stood up, and bowed low while picking up both ends of her dress. "You are too kind Vincent. And now, I bid you farewell." The sounds of her footsteps leading to the door before she opened it up and closed it behind her sounded off clearly as she walked through the hallway.

Vincent turned to his maid. "Please come closer, Yuffie." She knew she was being hired, but his request seemed to be fitting of a dog, but nonetheless, she moved closer for her employer. She then noted that his hands were raised…he wanted to touch her face. Sure enough, his hands reached out and felt her over gently—yes, those fingers were very delicate…he could be a pianist although those calluses she felt on his palms told her that he can handle himself around a sword. What sort of work was he really involved in?

"You are truly a beautiful young girl…so young and innocent…it makes me wish that your purity was all over the world…"

She could not help but blush…she was complimented on by her employer and she was loving every second of it.

"You will be sleeping upstairs in the guest room…the servants' quarters is in a bit of a mess until I can get someone to fix it up. If there is anything you require of me, you may find me in my room, or in the piano room. If you will lead me upstairs, I will describe to you which room is which." With that, Vincent got up and reached out his hand…this would be an interesting experience, Yuffie knew that much.

* * *

_**A/N: What do you think…should there be a 'spah sappin' mah ninja' scene in the future? Come to think of it, who is the spy anyway? No vampires yet, but I guarantee that you'll be hearing of him shortly…**_

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_**Songs Used:**_

"_**Merry-go-round of Life" by Joe Hisaishi—Yuffie's arrival**_

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_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Izanagi—the Shinto father of the gods—he was responsible for creating the islands of Japan by dipping the tip of his spear into the ocean and letting the droplets form the islands…Godo's code name.**_

_**Tsukuyomi—the Shinto god of the moon…the spy's code name.**_


	2. The Spy

_**A/N: And now we get to meet the spy…and the vampire all in one chapter. Do read and review would you kindly? Your comments will help me to improve and write better, as well as to see if it is worth continuing this story. By the way, I'm still taking girl names for "Dying", the deadline is by the time Vincent has around 2 or 3 months left.

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The marketplace of Nibelheim was a rather busy place. The hustle and bustle of the people hurrying around visiting the fruit stands for the freshest apples, or the butcher's shop for the best slice of beef they could find. Because part of her training as a kunoichi involved convincingly disguising herself as a servant girl, Yuffie knew exactly which apple would be fresh, and when a slice of bacon would be rancid. She also knew that because Mr. Valentine lived alone, he was a little more relaxed on the protocols for a maid to follow—an example would be how he allowed her to sleep in one of the guest rooms for the moment…she remembered exactly his reason why:

Flashback…last night…

_Yuffie had escorted her employer to the second level of the mansion. It was when the set foot out of the stairwell that Vincent spoke. "Since you're going to be living here, I might as well make you a little more comfortable…I have tried to hire someone to fix up the servant's quarters, but I was too busy at the time—a…rebellious child named Rufus was giving me a hard time teaching him. Not to mention that they were too frightened of this place to come work here. Since I live alone, I may as well make use of my guest rooms, which line this very hallway._

"_The den is all the way at the end of this hall—it is easy for me to care for because I know exactly where I put everything, and so there is no need for you to be cleaning that area. However, if you do intend to ask me anything, you would usually either find me in there or in the piano room downstairs to the east of the kitchen."_

_She then looked at her employer. "When does the market open?"_

"_I've lost track of time since I've lost my vision…but if I had to go by anything, the sound of the chocobo's crow should be a good time to be leaving."_

He was right…the sound of the chocobo crowing was a good time to be leaving the house for groceries. She was quick and silent like the wind—the sort of level any self-respecting kunoichi of her caliber should be. She didn't see much action in the war, her skills in guerilla warfare was on par with any of the special operations soldiers—particularly of the Wusheng unit…and she was glad she excelled in acrobatics, otherwise she would have been fighting through the crowd that started flooding the streets gradually.

"No bloody way! You are shitting me!"

"I kid you not friend. I heard stories that a vampire lives in that there mansion in the forest now. That's why everyone's scared to go there—about the only people I know of that would go there is the Wallace family. Sick bastard must've been mesmerizing them into thinking he's a normal person I'll bet." Oh she knew that Rocket Town accent anywhere—it was Cid Highwind. Sure Mr. Valentine was pale…but that did not mean he was a vampire. Oh she heard bedtime stories about those bloodsucking monsters in human form, and Mr. Valentine was not one—in fact, she had learned long ago that there was no such thing as vampires.

"I'm tellin' y'all…they do in fact exist!"

"And I call you a liar Mr. Highwind." To everyone's surprise, the one who spoke was a foreign girl in a maid's outfit carrying a basket of food. "There's no such thing as vampires, and you know it. But if you seem so intent on spreading rumors, how about we make a bet then?"

The look on Mr. Highwind's face was that of intrigue. "I'm listenin'."

* * *

Once Yuffie returned, she had heard the sound of the piano playing from outside the mansion. Mr. Valentine must be writing something for a concert in the future, but it seemed to be incomplete as he seemed to hesitate on quite a few notes at the end. It would not be until she opened the door that she heard him playing again only to stop at the middle. She ignored him so that he could keep on playing and wasted no time—she would be busy with those eggs now! She'll make the best omelet he'll ever eat, especially given the ingredients she'll be putting in it! There's no way in hell that she'll lose this bet to that chain-smoking cad of a carriage driver!

Flashback…moments ago…

"_First you tell me who you suspect this vampire is, and then I'll tell you of my proposal."_

"_Everyone suspects your boss of being a vampire."_

"_Then here is my proposal…I'm about to go make breakfast for him in the piano room. If he eats the food, then you will have to stop making such outlandish rumors about him…and in addition to that, you will owe me your entire pool of gil. Do we have a deal?"_

"_And what do I get when I win brat?"_

"_I will pay you my salary for three years."_

"_You got yourself a bet then…good-bye 'Queen Alicia' Mideelean cigarettes, hello 'Sweet Marissa' Del Solian cigars!"

* * *

_

Vincent was currently lost in his playing, but he knew that Yuffie had come home by the sound of the front door closing…and with uninvited guests by the looks of it. Judging by the scent of cheap tobacco imported from Mideel wafting in through the window it must be that crude carriage driver Highwind. Probably still spreading rumors about him being a vampire…such poppycock. Oh well, perhaps he was a very ignorant man after all…and judging from the sound of eggs being whisked and then fried, she was making him breakfast.

Oh well, he'll see what she's been cooking up soon enough. In the meantime, he may as well keep on playing…there's a concert where he would be playing this solo, and he needs all the practice he can get while writing this song…the majority of the song was written, but he started to fumble at the final verses of it. He then began to picture the scenes of the song in his head…the end of the world is coming, there is no hope except the one person you could trust…he needed to hurry with those notes now, as the concert was in a few days!

_Send a heartbeat to_

_The void that cries through you_

_Relive the pictures that have come to pass._

_For now we stand alone_

_The world is lost and blown_

_And we are flesh and blood disintegrate_

_With no more to hate_

_Is it bright where you are?_

_Have the people changed?_

_Does it make you happy, you're so strange?_

_And in your darkest hour, I hold secrets flame_

_We can watch the world devoured in its pain._

Vincent pictured this song from the viewpoint of a warrior and his lover he once knew from his time in Wutai…the way he saw it. The world ended when Shin-Ra attacked Wutai, and there was good reason for that…where King Hans Shin-Ra thirsted for more power, the inevitable revenge of Wutai will bring him down; however, one should truly beware of the pet scientist he keeps here in Nibelheim. Professor Hojo was a horrible excuse of a human being, and Vincent knew this because every time he passed by that house whenever Tifa guided him home from the pub, he could hear the faint sounds of tortured and pain-filled screams emanating from beneath the accursed building that he calls home. Whatever Hojo is planning, it does not bode well for the future.

_Delivered from the blast_

_Last of a line of lasts_

_The pale princess of a palace cracked_

_But now the kingdom comes_

_Crashing on and on_

_And I am master of a nothing place_

_Of recoil and grace_

_Is it bright where you are?_

_Have the people changed?_

_Does it make you happy, you're so strange?_

_And in your darkest hour, I hold secrets flame_

_We can watch the world devoured in its pain._

Should he confide his suspicions to just anyone, they will simply fall upon deaf ears…everyone will think that whatever accusation he makes against Hojo is the raving of a blind man finally gone mad. But then again, it is not his place to do anything…he is simply a pianist preparing for the upcoming concert in Shin-Ra manor up north.

Before Vincent could think anymore on the matter, he heard the footsteps of Yuffie walking towards him with a slight bounce in her steps…and he could smell the scents that she brought with her…and it made him salivate with desire…

Oh Yuffie had the right to be bouncing now…in addition to traditional Wutainese cooking to attract a possible suitor she received a crash-course on the basics of western-style food for in the event she had to go overseas to work. She'll definitely win this bet and probably a raise with her skills in the culinary arts! "Mr. Valentine, your breakfast is here!" Oh she could not help but bounce with joy towards her employer, as her victory was assured! She could see the subtle hint of salivation on the pianist's lips as she reached down for his right hand and placed a fork on it while closing the lid of the black lacquer-finished piano and placing the omelet on top of it.

* * *

This omelet was a sure winner—she knew that Valentine only eat loaves of soft bread because he lived alone and was blind, so something different for a change should brighten his spirits just a bit. She watched as he lifted the fork and prodded around as if to find the egg-wrapped goodness of the omelet and then he started by using his fork to cut small pieces of that cheesy goodness that was filled with small slices of bacon, some green pepper, a few tomato chunks, and the whole thing was topped with green onion. It was then that she watched him put the piece into his mouth, and began chewing on the piece…

* * *

It was heaven! Vincent had not had such a good meal since he was a child—and living alone with his mother…he still remembered such pleasant memories of her before the consumption had claimed her. This may not have been one of her dishes, but the simplicity of it took him back to when he was a little boy in his mother's arms…better days in his life as it were. He found that Yuffie was actually a rather good cook—if she were to leave his employment, she would most definitely be getting a positive referral from him.

"This is rather good food Yuffie. I suppose you studied in western cooking?"

"That I did…I only have the basics down, but once I learn how to do it more often, I'll be able to serve you a much better variety. How long have you been writing this song?"

"Months now…I had a muse that allowed me to write this song well…but I've been having trouble finishing it now."

"It's so sad."

"All songs are stories depending on who listens to it…but this story in particular is incomplete—I've been lost for the past few months on how to finish it. Perhaps…I've lost the inspiration to continue this…" Before he could finish his sentence, heard something…it was a very loud bang! Whatever it was, it was very loud—if such a noise is going to…Wait a minute…that's it! That's exactly what this song had needed…he set the dish on the seat quickly, opened the cover of his piano, and began playing. The song began to turn from a hesitant and incomplete melody to a complete and beautiful piece!

_Time has stopped before us_

_The sky cannot ignore us_

_No one can separate us_

_For we are all that is left_

_The echo bounces off me_

_The shadow lost beside me_

_There's no more need to pretend_

_Cause now I can begin again_

_Is it bright where you are?_

_Have the people changed?_

_Does it make you happy you're so strange?_

_And in your darkest hour, I hold secrets flame_

_We can watch the world devoured in its pain_

_Strange_

_Strange_

_Strange_

He now knew how the story ended…and now he knew how to tell the story! He then turned to Yuffie and gave her the biggest hug he had ever given…

Oh Yuffie smelled him all right…he smelled strongly of spices and other scents she could not identify…and the color of her skin at the moment he began to hug her would put a beet to shame. It would not be long until she heard him utter something in her ear. "Thank-you," he said, "you just gave me the idea on how to finish this song! Now I'll be able to show my face in the concert! If there is anything…"

"Oh, no, no! Please! Thanks are not necessary! Although if you really wish to thank me, would you be so kind as to release me?"

The embarrassment was clear on his face despite the fact that the blindfold hid his identity. "I apologize. You may carry on with whatever you were doing." Yuffie was glad when he released her…she doubted that she would have been able to hold in her instinct to stutter after being this close to such an attractive man for long periods of time. She had work to do, and she also had to prepare for tea time!

* * *

The light of the moonlight revealed his path as he stealthily leaped through the rooftops of Nibelheim…the spy had a contact from his intelligence-gathering network coming here at a particular location. Thank heavens that nobody saw him—none of the people in this village deserve to die…no, especially not the Wallace family. But at the same time, he could not afford to leave any witnesses to his presence—he'll make that person 'disappear' if he has to in order to ensure that nobody interferes with his mission to watch this town. As he leaped through many of the houses, the spy finally found his destination…a woman with her long hair bundled up with a yellow ribbon wrapping around it. She was the attractive sort, but something about her looked familiar. She looked to the left and the right every once in a while—was she being pursued?

The spy landed silently behind the woman with his cloak fluttering in the winds. His glowing red eyes had scanned the area—no soldiers in the immediate area, not even a security guard, and his sense of smell had ensured that nobody was following her. As the spy had studied her up close, only then did he realize the identity of the woman! If this information was from Lucrecia Crescent, then it is more likely that this information was very valuable. "You have contacted me Dr. Crescent?"

The woman turned and faced the spy. She could not see his face partially because it was hidden under a cloak, and also because the lower half of his face was covered by a collar that covered everything below his nose, but she could make out the bright glow of red where his eyes should be. Could he be a…no, that was impossible, vampires don't exist—at least, not anymore. "Are you the spy I've been told about?"

"The fact that you contacted me through my spy network tells me you have information regarding Hojo. But before you begin, would you please tell me why you would want to stab your husband in the back? I ask because what you are offering sounds too good to be true."

"I can see your skepticism, and I understand; the truth is that I have had enough. The screams of those my husband had tortured have taken their toll on me—even today, they haunt my dreams. I want you to make him pay for his crimes. I know that this course of action won't absolve me of any of my sins down there, but it is a start." The spy studied her, and found no lie in her actions—she really did regret what she had done in that abomination down in that house. It was not long before he noted that she pulled out a leather-bound satchel from her robes.

"This is all the research that I have been performing as well as my diary. It may not be enough, to help you, but it will give you an idea as to the goal of our research. I shall contact you again when I have copies of my husband's notes."

The spy took the leather satchel and bowed respectfully to Lucrecia Crescent before leaving. It would not do for both of them to be seen at the same time…it would seem that he now has research to perform now. "I will see what I can make of your research. I look forward to meeting with you again." With that, he turned and leaped away into the night, never to be seen again—thinking about the assistant that Godo had sent him…oh it would be a difficult mission indeed, especially since she has become quite a treat in his eyes—both figuratively and literally…but now was not the time. He had to make sure that Wutai was ready for her revenge and to install a better person in power for this place…and it was taking all his strength not to sink his fangs into her carotid artery to drink of her oh-so-addicting blood of hers.

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_**A/N: By now you should have guessed who the spy really is…if you haven't, then shame on you! That clue should have given it away!

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_**Songs Used:**_

"_**The Beginning of the End is the Beginning" by Smashing Pumpkins—Yuffie listens as Vincent rehearses this on the piano**_

"_**The Pink Panther Theme" by Henry Mancini—the spy meeting his informant.

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_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Tea time—the British variant of "lunch", if I recall, this tradition started when China had trades with Britain as tea leaves themselves were indigenous to Asia. The British version of this meal involves tea and lots of biscuits and jam spreads…whereas the original Chinese version had lots of steamed foods.**_


	3. Yuffie meets Tsukuyomi

_**A/N: And now Yuffie gets to meet the spy…even though she already knows who he is without any knowledge of it. All italicized words are words spoken in Wutainese. Read and review, would you kindly?

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Cid was not happy he lost the bet…neither were his colleagues as they lost a total of 1000 gil to a housemaid. "You win, but I'm not payin' you." The look on Yuffie's face was twisted in an angry grimace. "Hey, you lost the bet, so pay up!"

"I ain't convinced little miss, so how about we up the ante?"

"You're just doing it so that you can get a better chance to beat me."

"What're you chicken? I thought you Wutainese weren't scared of nothin'!"

"And you're nothing but hot air Highwind. So pay up!"

It was then that Cid started making clucking sounds…oh it was on! "What's your bet this time?"

"Double or nothin'…if you win, you get the pool from last time, and you also get more money if you win…but if I win, you have to pay me your salary for six years! You get him out of that house and if he doesn't even burn up in the sun, wince in front of a cross, has no aversion to garlic, or die in water, then I kid you not, I will not only pay you three times the pool…no, better make that ten times the pool with my own salary, but I'll stop making rumors about him!"

That was too good to be true…although, Mr. Valentine was a bit pale—probably from his staying indoors too often. And he did seem to want to avoid sunlight for some reason…oh she knew the answer to that question; "Tomorrow, I'm planning for an outdoors picnic near the river—you can watch if you want…as I take your hard-earned money away from you!"

That glare of defiance in Cid's eyes was clear—oh it was on! No way was he going to lose to some foreign girl from overseas…much less a maid that was hired to keep the vampire company! "A bet on Vampire Valentine again eh?" Oh everyone who lived here knew that voice! But all Yuffie saw were two police officers standing behind Cid—one of them with blazing hair and brandishing a police baton and the taller one was dark-skinned and bald. That little devil of a police officer wore his badge on his chest with "Reno McGrath" and his partner's read "Rude Walters".

"Oi, old man, who's the new bird?"

"She's Valentine's maid. Elmyra and Tifa both hired her from Wutai."

"That so? I always heard that those Wutainese birds were rather delectable…now I got proof here before my own bloody eyes. How about you and me take a walk sometime?"

The disgusted look on Rude's face was clear. "Crikey mate, keep it in your pants! What you're doing is already bordering on bloody sexual harassment you bugger."

"And what're you going to do 'bout it mate? Are you gonna bloody tell the sergeant on me?"

"There is no need for that McGrath…I'm already here." Reno stood ramrod straight—there was only one man he feared above all else…and he was standing right behind the two of them. The officer turned his head, and that look of fear on his face confirmed everything…the sergeant was here. The two police officers stood at attention for a Wutainese man close to his thirties walked between them. The look of amusement on his face was clear as he looked at the maid with recognition in his eyes. "Well, well, now there is a sight I never thought I would see…how was your trip?"

"Fine, I just agreed upon a bet is all."

"Highwind making rumors about Mr. Valentine again?"

"You mean to tell me it's not the first time this has happened?"

"Highwind here doesn't like Mr. Valentine—he always comes up with the most ridiculous theories ever about that man. What's he betting now?"

"That my employer is a vampire."

"Wait a minute; you're _working_ for Mr. Valentine?"

The look of confusion on Reno's face was clear…oh he was the ignorant sort all right. "Umm, Sergeant, you know this bird?"

The sergeant simply glared at the officer. "Everyone in Wutai knows her; she is Kisaragi Yuffie…the only daughter of Kisaragi Godo, and the princess of Wutai. Oh yes, and she also happens to be my cousin."

The eyes of all the other men in the area were widened…oh they knew about Godo Kisaragi…in fact, everyone in the Western Continents knew who Godo Kisaragi was—he was the man who refused King Shin-Ra's request to set up a mako mining facility on his island because that facility was going to be built on their holy grounds. To hear that this maid was the daughter of the Emperor of Wutai himself was a real shock. However, the worst kicker to Reno was finding out that this bird was related to their sergeant…oh he knew how much trouble he was in now…if he was caught in the act of sexual harassment, Reno would have simply been kicked off the force, but because this particular bird was the sergeant's cousin, the ramifications of his previous actions would probably be worse.

Rude nudged his partner gently with his elbow. "I think now would be a good chance to leave mate."

"Yeah, we'll see you back at the precinct eh sergeant?"

"If I don't see the two of you back on your patrol routes in five minutes, then I am indeed going to tell the commissioner…and by the looks of things when I was last in his office, his mood was so bad that it'll be very likely he'll discharge the two of you for dereliction of duty. Ah yes, that reminds me, speaking of which; Commissioner Heidegger has recently ordered all patrols to be on high alert especially on the night shift—rumor has reached the king's ears that sympathizers to the Empire of Wutai have formed a spy network in the kingdom, and so in order to investigate claims of any espionage networked or independent, he had sent a telegram ordering all commissioners in all police precincts to step up on patrols and stay on high alert for any suspicious activity and to enact and enforce a curfew to all nations under the kingdom. Plus he's also seen fit to add counterspies to our ranks in order to help us track down and locate any espionage agents, and so after our patrol, we are going back to the precinct to greet the counterspy or spies in that case. Now get going!"

The two police officers stood ramrod straight in salute "Sir, yes sir!" And after that, the two of them ran off. It was not long before the sergeant turned to glare at the men gathering together. "Before you gentlemen leave, I'd like to take that bet you were making with my cousin here…and I'm betting in her favor. If you win, then in addition to the amount I'll be betting, I'll do what I can to get any one of you out of jail only once…if we win, then you'll be arrested for gambling for even starting another bad rumor about Mr. Valentine…do we have a deal?"

"Y…yeah…we got a bet…"

"Good. Now get out of here before I tell your bosses you were out here at your tea breaks gambling your money away." They did not need to be told again…they knew that when the sergeant said he was going to do something, he meant it. The three men immediately started running away.

The knowing and amused look in Yuffie's face was clear as she faced her cousin and began speaking in their native tongue while strolling around the town. _"You haven't lost your touch have you Tseng?"_

"_I never did."_

"_So, first you were a general at age 20, and then you became a police sergeant at 27. Wow, now that is interesting."_

"_Uncle sent you here himself didn't he?"_

"_Things are getting to the point that even I have to work overseas."_

"_I'm sure that was hard for you to swallow."_

"_Well, at least my employer is a good man. He hasn't beaten me up…although we did have a bit of an inappropriate moment."_

"_How inappropriate?"_

"_He hugged me and thanked me for helping him finish that song he's been writing…it's actually very beautiful."_

"_Valentine's actually a good man as far as I've heard…I make my rounds at the Wallace family's flower shop and engine workshop, as well as _The Seventh Heaven_…they seem to have nothing but good words for the man. I've even passed by the mansion once or twice—and the music that comes out of that place is nothing short of perfection. However, something about the man bothers me…"_

"_You're not the only one…he felt my face on the day I first met him, and I felt calluses on his palms—like he's handled a sword before."_

"_He also seems to have this air of melancholy about him…like something sad had happened to him; although you're probably going to be comforting him by working for him as it were. Watch yourself around him…I'd hate for either of you to come out of this hurt in any way. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make my rounds."_ With that, Tseng bowed his head, and left his cousin by the gates to the sound of "Fur Elise" playing in the background. Yuffie opened the door, and the sound of the playing was clearer—whoever was sitting at the piano was playing well, but it was not Vincent…the sound did not have the elegant smoothness that Vincent had…and that was confirmed when Yuffie found someone else sitting at the piano playing the song. He was a blond young man a bit older than her, and was dressed in a white suit—he had many handsome features on him, but something about him made her want to throw something at him. She looked around the piano room, and found Vincent sitting on a couch next to a beautiful woman with auburn hair and the clearest green eyes she had ever seen, listening in on the song—he was nodding to the beat, but he had a frown upon his face…and she could not blame him…the boy was playing perfectly, but he was simply going through the motions as if he were forced into it. The woman sitting next to Vincent however, simply looked on patiently in her reddish dress that denoted that she was a governess to some well-to-do family…but she smiled politely.

Once the song was over, the pianist turned to the older man, and looked at him expectantly. "You've gotten better, especially with remembering the notes, but in my figurative eyes, you are still missing something."

The look in the man's eyes were furrowed in anger—oh he was a spoiled brat all right. "What is it now? I played everything perfectly! I…"

Vincent lifted his hand to silence his apparent student. "Now do not misunderstand me Rufus; I am not disputing that you have great potential to be a rather good pianist…the notes and the timing are both fine. You have good memory, and that will serve you well, but you have no idea as to the concept of what you are to be learning here. For today, the lesson is over—but when you come back next time, I want you to tell me what it is that you believe you are missing…if you give me a wrong answer, my maid will be getting a holiday as you will be doing all of her chores under her supervision while I play on the piano all day to practice and rehearse for my concert, but if you have no answer, you will be tuning and cleaning the piano alone all day. You will be doing this every time you come here until you get the right answer."

Rufus simply glared at his teacher before hanging his nose in the air. "Aeris, I'll be waiting in the carriage."

Once her master had gone out of earshot, Aeris lowered her voice before speaking to Vincent. It made Yuffie hot with jealousy that this woman would even dare get close to her boss to whisper something in his ear…wait a minute, where did that come from? Jealousy over her boss? That could not be possible! And yet, when he whispered something in Aeris' ear, she giggled and then went out the hallway to follow her master. The curiosity was really killing her—even with the sound of the chocobo-drawn carriage leaving the mansion starting to fill the air. "What was so amusing?"

"Aeris asked me if Rufus would figure out the answer anytime soon. And since I can sense your curiosity, I shall tell you what I told her; my thoughts are that with his head so far up in a location where the sun would not shine, I doubt he'll learn the lesson in any more than three months at most."

"Who were those people?"

"The young man you saw earlier was Rufus Koehler Shin-Ra. Not a pleasant man by any means…but I do see potential in him."

Yuffie's eyes widened at the thought. Her surprise at the mention of that surname would have caused her to lose her jaw. "You're teaching piano lessons to the son of King Shin-Ra himself?"

"Of course, but he is not the only one—I also teach young Marlene Wallace, and gave some pointers to her older sister Aeris whom you've also seen earlier."

"What do you mean sister?"

"According to Elmyra, Aeris was adopted into the Wallace family after her father was said by an eyewitness to have been killed by a mugger on his way to the operating room to see her mother. Sadly though, he would be reunited with his beloved wife as she died in childbirth. Elmyra was heartbroken that her friends had died leaving their daughter behind…but she made a promise on their grave that Aeris would grow up to be a happy woman. Her proper name would be Aeris Gast, but she refers to herself as Gainsborough in honor of her foster mother. Now their family has gotten bigger…and their bond could not be any more beautiful."

"I do feel sorry for that happening to Aeris though."

"What happened in the past will not change…all we can do for her is to make sure she stays a happy woman. Now if you'll excuse me, I am rather tired at the moment, so if there is anything you need of me aside from your normal chores, I will be in my room." Vincent yawned and lifted his hand to Yuffie…she was to guide him to his room. She felt the calluses on his hand—yes, the pattern was undeniable; Vincent Valentine has handled a sword before…and the subtly graceful way in which he moved told her that he was no stranger to the martial arts. She'll ask about it when she gets a chance—but in the meantime, she has to escort Vincent to the den for his nap.

Once she closed the door, she found herself going to her room to nap for a bit—but she saw something on her pillow. It was a sealed envelope with her name written in kana. Who would know her aside from Tseng? She picked up the envelope and opened it—the message was written in kanji. It read:

"Midnight at the town square, burn this letter when you have the opportunity. I think it time we met don't you think?"

Yuffie did not know what to say…whoever this was that gave her this letter, he must have known she would not be in the house…meaning that he was watching her this entire time…was it the spy that Godo had sent here? If that's the case, then perhaps it was time to meet Tsukuyomi…

* * *

Midnight…

The spy was looking on at the town square—he had chosen this spot in particular to meet his new partner because the patrols never really covered this area well on any night aside from the night of a full moon…even if the patrols were stepped up. But he had planned it well—they would not dare come here without a personal lamp. Before he could continue to think any more, he heard the sound of straw sandals touching down on the cobblestone road. He then observed as his partner moved closer to the fountain—smart move…she really did her homework as she was exploring the town. Perhaps she was ready for the mission…but then again, he still had a bit of studying to do himself. But while he studies the notes he had received from Lucrecia, he may as well test her well to see how she may be able to handle it…

Yes, indeed a test is in order…but he'll have to hurry…there's no telling what Hojo is up to and even if the knowledge is there, there's no guarantee that there's plenty of time. Oh he remembered his actions during the war…it was not public knowledge even today, but he knew that that backstabbing trash was the reason they lost the war four years ago. He did not deserve a single breath of air for what he's done…the horrors of that night before he himself had defected as a cover identity had resulted in so many people killed, and that included all the other members of his family. He did not want to share what he saw that night…and if he does not find out what Hojo is up to now, the people of this town will suffer the same horrific fate.

Yuffie was exploring the fountain…she could see why this place would be perfect for a meeting. The shadows were so thick in the area surrounding the fountain, not even the street lamps would provide enough illumination. The only place that was not covered in shadow was fountain itself, as it is always illuminated by the moonlight.

"_The view only gets better on the night of a full moon."_

Yuffie turned around and found herself looking at a man in a red cloak and a hood that hid his face…the spooky thing however were his glowing red eyes. Nothing she could think of would have eyes of this particular color except a wild beast with malicious intent…or a monster. She would have run, but she was frozen in place with fear of this man who simply bowed low to her like a servant would to royalty. _"Greetings Princess, I am Tsukuyomi."_

"_Why have you called me here?"_

"_So I can finally meet my partner. Godo did send you here to assist me did he not?"_

The regal way in which the spy spoke despite the heavy and raspy voice said much about his origins…he was from a high-class family, and his accent was that of a native speaker from the southern end of the island. Now Yuffie knew a little bit about him. _"Yes he did. He told me I was supposed to help you without getting in your way."_

"_Indeed…but is the princess as skilled as I've heard I wonder?"_

Yuffie did not know what he meant, but her instincts had told her to lift up her arms and block a haymaker aimed at her head—and then a low jab to her stomach, and then ducking under a roundhouse kick followed by rolling away from an overhead punch. She then got back up from her rolling, and stood in a defensive position…she knew from the weapons under that cloak that this was a man who was prepared for anything, and his stance told her that while hand-to-hand combat was not his specialty, he was no slouch when it came to fighting up close and personal. Tsukuyomi left his stance and looked towards his target. _"Good. Now I see why you are qualified for the job. Perhaps I will give you your first job?"_

"_And what job would that be?"_

At that, the spy produced a folded sheet of paper from his cloak. _"I am currently in control of a spy network. My agents are everywhere gathering intelligence of all sorts so that Wutai can have her revenge with wisdom on her side. I want you to meet one of my spies in that location tomorrow at midnight. Leviathan watch over you Kisaragi-hime."_ Upon finishing his sentence, the spy disappeared into the shadows…Yuffie wondered about the identity of Tsukuyomi. Why did his voice sound familiar? She had no time to think anymore about it…he had the right idea. The patrols were stepped up, and it would not do for her to be caught by the police outside of the curfew.

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry, no outright vampirism yet, but I plan to base the vampires here on the ones seen in "Record of a Fallen Vampire"…a rather good manga to read. Sadly, it's 9 volumes long. The vampires there don't need to drink blood to sustain themselves…it is surmised that they eventually took in enough genetic material from drinking human blood that they evolved the ability to digest human food as well has human resistances and immunities. However, I'm adding a few more touches here concerning vampire physiology…as you can imagine.

* * *

**_

_**Songs Used:**_

"_**Fur Elise" by Beethoven—Rufus plays the piano.**_

"_**Echigoya Estate" by Noriyuki Asakura—Yuffie meets Tsukuyomi.

* * *

**_

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Kana—this is the writing system in Japan…it's divided into hiragana and katakana, both of which are different methods of writing…and both methods also incorporate kanji characters.**_

_**Kanji—this is the traditional characters used in China…Japan mixed this system into the hiragana and katakana systems, although nowadays they use the simplified version of the characters now instead of the traditional ones.**_


	4. Vampirism

**_A/N: Now you will see why I gave this an M-rating…and the way I see it, vampires feeding off their blood is probably both a painful and sensual experience for the victims of the said vampire's attack. Do read and review would you kindly?

* * *

_**

The sound of a knife cutting onions and mushrooms for lunch against a cutting block were filling the air as Yuffie was making something for herself and her employer—today's lunch would be chicken breast with an onion and mushroom gravy and a side of rice. As she was cutting away, she began to think back on what she learned about the spy. She knew that while the Wutainese accent for the northerners was smoother and more nasal, and required that one make full use of contextual clues to understand the meaning of the words, but when southerners attempt to speak the language, it normally comes out a little more guttural. The spy's accent definitely fit in the latter category as his fluency in the language betrayed his origins by the fact that he sounded like he was using his throat more than his nose…this was her hint that he was from the south…and coupled with the fact that he was carrying autoloader pistols under his cloak, and that was a definite sign he was a southerner, as the south had been well-known in Wutai for being technologically advanced, even more so than the Shin-Ra kingdom. Yuffie remembered that this was due to the fact that in addition to the best hunters and archers ever seen in the island empire, they also produced a lot of brilliant minds in the art of engineering, supplemented by their somewhat fair trade relationship with Shin-Ra. However, after Shin-Ra had the audacity to propose setting up a mine for materia on Mt. Da Chao, a universally sacred ground to both the north and the south due to the "Stele of Da Chao" that had been erected and hand-carved by the bodhisattva himself and of the rock-face statue carved on the mountain in his honor, the latter threatened to cut off all trade with Shin-Ra and would join the northerners in war if they continued to push the matter any further. King Shin-Ra was not happy that Wutai refused, and rallied up his troops to take over Wutai all so that he could get his way—thus beginning the seven-year Wutai War.

Going back to her train of thought, Yuffie had thought of another clue to his identity: it was in the way he moved in combat as all his motions were the very basic techniques that they taught to the special operations agents when they made it to the ranks of the elite. He could have been masking his capabilities though as those moves were meant to be quick and punishing…and those were definitely the moves she was privately taught when she was younger and still fighting in the war…granted, she was only taught the basics, and Hasegawa-sensei humbly admitted that while he was not the best fighter, but he was also not the worst…and looking back then at Hasegawa-sensei and comparing his stance with that of the spy, she could tell that even though the spy was not a specialist in hand-to-hand combat, he still had the capability of making Hasegawa look like a novice as they both studied the same style. This meant that the spy was from the Wusheng unit and from a different part of the unit as Hasegawa was part of the Susanoo branch—this branch specialized in heavy assault tactics and heavy weapons usage. Judging from the way he carried himself and the codename he used, Yuffie suspected that he was from the Tsukuyomi branch, as they were known to specialize in reconnaissance missions for the unit, and so it would not have been a surprise that he became a spy—but on the night that the war ended, all of the Tsukuyomi branch had apparently died off, probably in the defense of the Akatsuki Village in South Wutai, so he is probably the last of his unit.

After cutting up the last mushroom, she began to bring out the baking soda, and started it whisking away at it after pouring water into the bowl. The frying pan was ready now, and now was the moment to lower the heat…she placed the chicken breast filets on the pan and then started pouring the baking soda mix onto the chicken…this would be the catalyst for the gravy…she would then take out the onions and the mushrooms, and sprinkle them all over the chicken as the juices spread out and mixed in with the mixture of baking soda and water to form the gravy. She took a wooden spatula and began stirring the mixture so that everything would be cooked evenly and going to the next pot to check on the rice. Yuffie would think more on the identity of Tsukuyomi later, but for now, she had other matters to attend to…such as serving the ever-so-sweet Mr. Valentine as he continued to play. The rice was done, and so she put the chicken on the side, and poured the rest of the gravy over the white rice…now she'll get to hear him more clearly as he keyed in every note on his piano.

Oh she immediately knew what it was that Rufus was missing that Vincent was trying to teach him. And it showed in his playing…like his teacher had said, Rufus was playing the notes perfectly, and his timing was also done well, and this was all done with memory…but at the rate he is going with his arrogance, she doubted he'll ever learn the lesson, and she'll probably have a guaranteed holiday whenever he comes around. She listened in on the song—the tempo at which it was playing said that it was a happy song, as well as a sad one. As she got closer with the tray holding the food and the tea in her hands, she began to picture the scene in her head more clearly; she had seen a young girl with someone holding her hand…an elder sibling perhaps? The song was also sad—as if the girl no longer existed anymore; as if she had died, and the person who was seeing her was hurt by the memories of her passing. Once Yuffie was close enough, she could see that this song definitely had meaning to Valentine—his bandages were wet, and she could clearly smell the scent of salt on him. He was not sobbing, but she could tell he was crying as his bandages were getting darker as they started sucking up moisture from his tears. What could possibly have happened to have inspired him to play such a sad song?

"Mr. Valentine? Your lunch is ready."

He paused as he finally closed the piano before facing her with a slight smile on his face. "I thank you Yuffie…your food is so good—it was as though you were playing a wonderful orchestra through your cooking."

"Who was it?"

Valentine looked to Yuffie with a questioning look on his face. "The reason I ask is because your blindfold is soaked with tears—I can even smell the salt from them. I don't intend to offend, but you seem to be sadder with this song than any other that I've heard you play."

He sighed…she was right…he may as well come clean. "During my stay in South Wutai, there was a girl—she was around eight years old, but I could tell that she would have grown up to be such a beautiful woman one day…we got along well enough to be brother and sister to each other as she was an orphan who wandered the streets…I wrote this song on the piano for her since she was my friend."

"What happened to her?"

"The war happened. I was just about to meet her in the bar I temporarily worked at so that I could play this song for her when the first shots that started the war happened. Shin-Ra gave the order for all civilians in the south side to begin evacuating—I wanted to take her with me, but I couldn't find her. I haven't been able to find her since. Nowadays, I play this song in hopes that she is still alive—and would be able to hear it…and to remember her."

As she listened in, she could not help but feel sorry for this man—but at the same time she had a feeling that this was not all of the tale. Yuffie knew that it was not her place to ask, but she also knew that one day he'll tell her the whole truth about what happened to his friend. But in the meantime, she would let him enjoy his lunch. It was then that she remembered something.

"Ah yes, Mr. Valentine…"

Valentine raised his hand to interrupt her politely, stopped what he was doing and wiped his mouth with the napkin. "Please pardon my intrusion, but before you go on, I wish to inform you of something that I've forgotten to mention from the start; there is no need to be professional around me…you are the only person working here, and so while in the house, you may refer to me as Vincent. With that said, you may continue."

"Very well then Vincent, I was wondering…how long has it been since you were last outside the mansion aside from work?"

"To be frank, it has been a while. Why do you ask?"

"Because I am wishing to go out to the park for a picnic tomorrow…and I was wondering if you were interested."

* * *

It had to be that Highwind fellow again…Vincent knew that he was behind Yuffie's actions as of this moment…oh if only he knew the truth, then Highwind would most definitely not be making anymore rumors about him if he cherished his life. He knew that Highwind was behind Yuffie making a rather good breakfast at that time, especially due to the fact that the man practically stinks of cheap Mideelean cigarettes, and so he did not do a very good job of hiding himself on that particular day. Well, it would probably be good to humor the man again—after all, Yuffie seemed rather smug yesterday…as if she had won something. In any case, this seemed like a good moment to shut the man up for good. If this won't work, then he'd have to resort to…drastic measures in order to ensure that he would no longer become a gossip.

With his mind made up, only one answer came out of his mouth…

* * *

"I'll come."

Yuffie looked at her employer in surprise. She thought that she would have to work harder than that in order to get him to agree with her. Thoughts began to process in her head as to the inner workings of Valentine's mind. Just what is he planning?

"It has been a while since I was last outside the mansion—safety reasons mostly, and due to the fact that I lived alone before you were hired. Perhaps it is time to go out into the sun once again, wouldn't you agree?"

"Very well then sir. Is there any particular dish you want me to prepare for this?"

"Sandwiches of any sort are fine…along with some fresh fruits if you can…although you may wish to go to the wine cellar in the basement for refreshments. I'll allow you to choose the bottle."

With that, Valentine continued with his meal, and Yuffie went to the cellar—oh she had every reason to be smug at the moment…and the moment she proves Cid Highwind wrong again, she'll have saved her employer's reputation from anymore slander at the hands of that man. Now then, to pick out the wine they would be having tomorrow…

* * *

Midnight…Outskirts of Nibelheim…

Cloud looked on at the night sky—he cursed his fate at being a slave to that man, but looking at things from his perspective, he knew full well that the Shin-Ra kingdom, and by extension, he also deserved it. As a matter of fact, he would not be surprised that many of his colleagues from SOLDIER that survived that day in South Wutai got this treatment as well. All of the Shin-Ra soldiers involved would deserve the coming wrath of Wutai—the only good thing is that no civilians would be hurt…meaning that his beloved would still be alive when this is all done and over with.

As he thought back to his employer, he began to think back on the events that caused him to become one his slaves. Despite his conscription, Cloud never supported the war against Wutai, but he could understand the anger in that man when he placed that curse upon his arm—and when the spy network was formed, he was made into a sort of delivery boy…fitting considering his occupation prior to his drafting. King Shin-Ra simply wanted any excuse to make the island of Wutai and all of her treasures his; and when Wutai refused his offer to provide them with half the profits of the mining expedition, he was furious enough to send soldiers out to conquer the land. During his time in the SOLDIER heavy infantry unit in the war, Cloud came to actually respect the warriors that defended that island empire; the numbers of the Wutainese soldiers that hit the forces from Nibelheim hard from the forests may have been fewer in number, but they were cunning and fierce as wolves and as brave as lions…this shook the resolve of many of the soldiers fighting in the war—particularly those who fought in the forest, or on patrol. This train of thought was shared by many members of SOLDIER, including Zack…although there were exceptions.

"Are you the man I'm supposed to meet?"

Cloud turned around, and found himself looking at a girl roughly in her late teens…oh he knew who she was—everybody in SOLDIER that fought in the Wutai War knew who she was. What was she doing here? It would not be long before he put two and two together that he realized what she was doing here. "You must be that assistant of his that I've heard about. We already knew that his assistant was a 'she', I just didn't know that 'she' was the princess of Wutai. Anyway, I have the package that Tsukuyomi had requested…it's light, so it's easy to carry; but don't be seen with the contents in broad daylight—you'll be arrested for charges of espionage if you've been seen with them. Be careful on your way back to him. By the way, whatever you do, don't come near him with fresh cuts—the results will not be pleasant."

With that, the young man rode off on his chocobo silently into the darkness. His current mission was over…every mission in this area sets him closer and closer to freedom, and to her. Oh he wanted so much to be with her now…nothing will stop him from seeing her again…from finally confessing to her…and most definitely to say her name in his throes of pleasure as he makes love to her.

"Tifa…"

* * *

One hour later…Nibelheim Square

Tsukuyomi sat around in the shadows waiting for Yuffie to appear…the little note he had written on the corner of the map told her to reappear at this particular area once she had retrieved the package. Suddenly, he watched her land from out of nowhere—she had a cut somewhere…this was not kosher. Somebody had followed her, and as he inspected his surroundings, it was too late! He felt something cut into his back!

* * *

Yuffie watched as that woman that was chasing her down with the large shuriken came up from behind Tsukuyomi, and smash its blade into his back. Of course the spy fell to the ground…dead. This red-headed bitch must have been one of the counterspies that have been transferred to this precinct! She must've seen her somewhere in town, and decided to pursue her after the delivery boy had given her the package. Now she was in trouble as she was suffering from a cut on her calf—this bitch was not as good as she was while using the giant shuriken, but she was accurate. "There's nowhere to run now your majesty," she said, with a glint of killer intent in her eyes as she pulled the shuriken out of the spy's back, "the sooner this is over, the sooner that…"

Before the counterspy could finish her sentence, Yuffie watched as a gloved hand delivered a knife-hand strike to the counterspy's neck, disorienting her nervous system temporarily as she crumbled down to the ground—that gloved hand belonged to Tsukuyomi. She then watched as he caught the counterspy from her back with one hand, and used the other hand to pull down on the collar of his cape before he pressed his face onto her neck…the counterspy exclaimed in pain at first, and eventually, her moans of resistance turned into moans of pleasure, and her arms had started to lessen in their flailing in pulling him away and punching away at him before they dropped into the air with the fight in them gone. Yuffie then continued to watch as the wound that he received from the shuriken cutting into his back started healing itself before he removed his head from the counterspy's neck, revealing that he had four sets of apparently razor-sharp canines as they seemed to retract back into the normal size for a human as he covered his mouth back up. What was he?

Before she could look for any answer, Yuffie saw that the spy was walking toward her—she could not move from her spot; partially because she was mesmerized by those glowing red eyes, another because she was too terrified, and the other part because the cut on her calf was deep into her gastrocnemius muscle, so it was too hard to move due to the pain. She then saw him kneel down in front of her, pull down his collar, lift up her leg, and lick the wound from one end to the other in one stroke. He then got back up, and looked to her with apparent fascination in his eyes. "_Hmm…type A…and virgin in every possible sense of the word…this is possibly the best blood I ever drank, and that's a given due to your royal heritage._"

The look of confusion on Yuffie's face was evident—and this was also due to the fact that the cut on her leg was no longer painful, and the cut in the tissue and skin had disappeared as if it were never there. _"What are you?"_

Tsukuyomi simply chuckled lightly, as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world. _"My people have been called many things…but the closest word I suppose you can refer to us as is…vampire."

* * *

_

**_A/N: The reason I see a vampire attack as both painful and sensual is because a vampire bite is a hickey taken to the extreme. As the vampire sucks out the blood, the victim gets an epinephrine high from fear and arousal due to the hickey, and the blood loss makes the victim feel like they just hit cloud nine.

* * *

_**

**_Songs Used:_**

**_"Her Most Beautiful Smile" by Noriyuki Asakura—Vincent playing on the piano

* * *

_**

**_Vocabulary and Culture Notes:_**

**_Autoloader pistol—another name for a semiautomatic pistol; and before you argue about historical inaccuracy, the semiautomatic firearm has been around since 1885…and surprise, surprise, the first semiautomatic was a rifle._**

**_Susanoo—this is the Shinto god of war; he is well-known for being the brother of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, and for slaying the eight-headed Yamata-no-Orochi. He was also the first owner of the sword that would famously be known as "Kusanagi no Tsurugi"._**

**_"...fierce as wolves, brave as lions"—this was a line used once to describe the Mongols as they charged through Europe._**

**_Stele—this is a big slab of rock or wood normally used for funeral or memorial purposes._**

**_Bodhisattva—a Buddhist saint that forgoes attaining Nirvana to aid others in getting to heaven._**

**_Akatsuki—in Japanese, this usually means "Dawn" (this is especially the case in "Naruto"), but in this case, I'm using the kanji characters for it to read "Red Moon"._**


	5. Another Victory for Yuffie

_**A/N: The bet is now on! Will Cid win the bet or will he lose and let out a string of curses so foul, so sinister, that his mother would shove soap down his throat from beyond the grave? I also wonder as to when I should Tsukuyomi fess up as to what his mission is…and reveal to us as to what happened in the Akatsuki village…do read and review would you kindly?**_

* * *

Legend:

"Normal Speech"

**Excerpts**

_Thoughts_

"_Wutainese_"

* * *

Yuffie looked to the spy in shock…that's impossible! Vampires don't exist! But because of the fangs she saw and the way that Tsukuyomi licked her leg and determined her blood type by taste, she knew that denying the truth was pointless at this moment. She was pale with fear at that line he said before confirming that he was a vampire: "_…this is possibly the best blood I ever drank…_" What's going to happen now? Is he going to suck her until she was dry?

The amusement was clear in those glowing red eyes of his, even though his face was obscured by the shadow of his hood while Tsukuyomi lifted her up to her feet. "_Don't worry, I've had my fill of blood for now…the only reasons that you humans give us vampires a bad reputation are either because they had an encounter with an unscrupulous sort, or they had run into the drug addicts of my people._"

As he started walking away with the package in his arms and the counterspy slung over his shoulder, Yuffie could not help but wonder—if vampires existed, then why is he the only one around? She thought of many variables as to how that could be, but her thoughts were interrupted when she had just recalled what it was she needed to do: she needed to get out of here now!

* * *

**Long ago, in a time long forgotten, there were two great kingdoms in the world. Ruling the Kingdom of the Sun was the Cetra High Council, led by Queen Nirvana, and the Kingdom of the Moon was headed by Queen JENOVA. Both rulers were goddesses of immeasurable power…and both happened to be great friends. Under the leadership of both queens, the two kingdoms enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity until one day, something had appeared that would change the world forever; the discovery of a precious jewel had caused the whole world fighting over the search for those beautiful stones had bestowed the power of magic upon their users. Those beautiful stones would eventually be known as materia. Sadly, because of these stones, brother turned upon brother, friends became enemies, and the world was covered in blood as people fought many wars over the materia. JENOVA and her people left the alliance she had formed with her friend, and created a powerful and nomadic gang of bloodsucking bandits who pillaged the lands for materia, and raided the Kingdom of the Sun constantly, their attacks being most fearsome at night. It was not long after that until an outright war would break out…one that would shatter the land as they knew it, a piece of which would eventually become the land of Wutai herself.**

**-Excerpt from "The Stele of the Da Chao", translated by Georg Bugenhagen**

* * *

Yuffie's thoughts back on the spy made her question what Highwind was saying about vampires being in town—perhaps he was right. The reason that she came to believe that vampires were a myth was because of the words inscribed upon The Stele of Da Chao describing them. The written upon both faces of the stele itself was an epic tale of what happened in the beginning of the world from the eyes of the bodhisattva himself. Da Chao was said to have lived nearly hundreds of thousands of years before he finally died of old age, and he was said to have been the ancestor to pretty much everyone in Wutai, leading to the national religion of the island mainly revolving around ancestor worship and a pantheon of gods…with Da Chao being one of the stronger gods to the point that it is said that the Kisaragi line has directly descended from him.

Although for some reason, she had a feeling that the story Da Chao was trying to tell was only half-finished as they never found out what happened—and so there were rumors of a second stele in the possession circulating amongst the scholars of her people. It got to a point that this rumor had sent mendicant monks from the Northern Empire combing everywhere for the second stele to the point that it started the first encounter with the Southern Nations…an encounter that lead to a misunderstanding which led to a long war between the north and the south. It wouldn't be until it was revealed by accident that both the North and the South venerated Da Chao, and the ties between the two territories became significantly friendlier…to the point where the South exchanged their knowledge of gunpowder with the North in exchange for a more efficient way of making higher-quality steel. This alliance would give also give the Northerners access to an elite cadre of hunters and marksmen that would become the mainstay of their shinobi forces while the Southerners got a proper military force to supplement their advantage in the tight quarters of the forest by adding samurai into their ranks to deal with threats that their arrows and throwing implements were unable to deal with. A few years into the alliance, the North had the idea to clarify with the South why they were in their territory to begin with—the delegates from the Southern Kingdoms stated that there was no stele, and that they were unaware of the existence of the stone…this was backed up by the Akatsuki Village seeing as they have a lot of influence among the other kingdoms.

She immediately put all other thoughts aside as she started searching the wine cellar…she had a bet to win. Today's picnic was turkey breast sandwiches made with roasted turkey breast that had been stored in the ice house near the grounds, iceberg lettuce leaves, sliced tomatoes, cheddar cheese slices, mayonnaise mixed with deviled beef and celery, all of that contained within two pieces of sourdough bread fresh from the bakery. As a side, there would be kippers seasoned with paprika, and for desert, there would be two apples—thankfully, she also packed a knife for this reason. Based on her experimentation with the foreign drinks, she had deduced that a white wine would be best for today due to the turkey sandwich and the kippers…after searching the racks, she eventually found a green bottle with a sort of golden tinge to it; yes! Exactly what she was looking for! Her schooling in her role as a maid had fortunately included learning to read in the language the foreigners refer to as "Basic", and those words that she read was 'chardonnay'…it didn't matter now… all that mattered was getting this bottle and the two glasses ready. This would be her method of celebrating another bet won…as she would be toasting with her employer that glass of wine with her—providing of course that he is not very angry with her afterwards.

As she put the wine in a quilted sleeve before placing it in the picnic basket, she had a revelation; she was practically risking her job just to win a bet. Just before she started zipping up the bag, fear began to send shivers up her spine as she began to wonder just what would happen if Vincent found out that she was betting behind his back…was it worth getting fired over a few thousand gil? Oh dear, she really put herself in a bind this time…if she doesn't follow through with this bet, then Cid will humiliate her, she'll possibly be out of employment due to actually murdering her boss, and it seems very likely that Tseng will kill her; oh she can see it now…on the front page of the newspaper, the headline would read "Maid Kills Her Employer Over a Bet". On the other hand, if she put him through all this en route to the park, she could very well risk being fired…although if he understands that she was trying to get Cid to stop bothering him and making rumors about him, then perhaps she has a chance to come out of this with her job intact—it would not do if she lost her cover identity all because she was gambling. Plus, she also gets the opportunity to confirm if Vincent Valentine is Tsukuyomi…if she remembered what she heard about vampires, then those things that she would put Vincent through would prove if he is indeed a vampire, and she'll implement her plan to flee.

The sound of concern in Vincent's voice was clear as he called down in the cellar. "Yuffie, are you ready?"

"Uh, yes Vincent, I was just looking for the right bottle for this very day…I'll be up in a moment."

True to her word, she ascended the stairs to find Vincent waiting for her…he was wearing a red silk hat on his head. Normally when indoors, he would only be wearing his black ensemble which included a suit that was held up by a pair of suspenders, and a white shirt and a black tie around his neck…today however, she saw him wearing that red cape of his, apparently made of a finely-woven sort of cotton interlaced with imported Wutainese silk—apparently, he had taste as Wutainese silk tended to be every bit as practical as it was beautiful as it added a sense of versatility to whatever set of clothes you make with it, due to the fact that Wutainese silk was durable enough to be used for quilted armor when made in a double-weave fashion and was as close to waterproof as you can get if you don't have leather. He was also holding a walking stick in his hand…obviously to aid him in getting around should there be rocks or the sort on the ground to trip him. Oh he looked delectable all right and she just wanted to rip that cape off of him and then…_wait a minute, bad Yuffie! BAD! Get that pretty head of yours out of the gutter! He's your boss! You can't do that to him, it'll be too awkward!_

She then pulled herself out of her thoughts and took his hand in hers and started to exit the mansion while guiding him towards their destination…

* * *

Cid and his friends were already outside the grounds…he had paid off his colleague at work to ensure that he could win this bet against Valentine—he had a lot of money bet against the Royal Brat says that her boss is not a vampire…and he'll be damned if…no wait a minute, there they are…leaving the house and walking towards the sunlight…no way he was going to get caught spying on Valentine, even if he is blind! He watched as the duo went past the front gates, and towards the marketplace. He gave the signal to his friends and made hand gestures to follow them discretely…

* * *

Yuffie was weaving Vincent through the crowd…he moved clumsily, and so she was rather close to dismissing him as secretly being her contact here in Nibelheim…although were it not for the fact that even in his clumsy and unsure movements, she actually saw subtle hints of grace in the way he swerved around while she dragged him around. Were it not for that fact, she would have been convinced that he was indeed an ordinary blind pianist. This was because he was deliberately swerving around clumsily in an attempt to mask the fact that he was very graceful…yes, he could be Tsukuyomi, or he could've been trained as a dancer at the very least in addition to his piano skills. As the two of them walked on, Yuffie noted the herbs and spices stall coming on up…and just her luck, she saw what she was looking for, and so phase one of her plan to test out on Mr. Valentine's existence as a vampire was carried out!

She immediately dragged Vincent by the hand towards the spot she was looking for. "Yuffie, I currently smell spices of all kinds in this area—most notably garlic as it is in front of my face…may I ask what we are doing here of all places?" Yuffie studied the face of her employer—there was no sign of disgust on his face, but she decided to answer quickly due to the look of confusion on it. "I forgot to pack the pepper…would you mind if I purchased some spices just in case?"

"That is fine. Take as much time as you need."

Yuffie had a triumphant look on her face…she had her employer facing cloves of garlic strung together, and he didn't even wince. It was not long until the stall owner noticed her. "Ma'am, may I help you?"

"Yes, can I have a vial of black pepper and one of your spice grinders as well as four cloves of garlic?"

"Why certainly…that shall be 25 gil."

With that, Yuffie produced a coin purse from her pocket, and produced the coins for the vendor. She then grabbed the burr mill containing the black pepper, and left with Vincent in hand after placing the machine in the bag. She then spotted their next destination…a church store! If she was correct, then she would be able to see if he would be affected! With that, she dragged him carefully towards the store. "I smell spices again…only not the sort of spices that would be used for eating…and they're mixed in with a sort of wood…tell me we aren't in the church store…"

Yuffie looked around the shop, and found two crosses…one made from amber, the other made from what she guessed to be copper. And she was fortunate that he was not wearing gloves. "I'm sorry, but I had a fit of curiosity…I've heard that when one loses one sense, all the other senses are sharpened, and so I wanted to see if you knew the difference between a resin from a metal by touch."

With that, she placed both crosses in his hands—not even a bit of steam, or a wince of pain…the only expression he had was an analytical one as he rubbed his fingers across the surface of both crosses. "The cross in my left hand is made of metal judging by the way that my fingers seem to slide along its surface quite easily…the cross in my right hand however, is made of what I suppose is amber as it is a bit stickier than the cross in my left hand." It would not be long until Yuffie dragged her employer to what appeared to be a sacred fountain for washing one of sins. She picked up a few drops of the water, and flicked some droplets into Vincent's face.

"Were you expecting me to melt like those witches I've heard of?"

Satisfied with her victory, and noticing Cid silently fuming with anger outside the doorway, Yuffie mocked him silently with a grin before she gently pried the crosses out of Vincent's hands and put them back where they belonged—resisting the urge to pocket both silently as they were both high-quality and hand-crafted religious objects that would easily fetch a rather high price. She then held his hand and started to drag him carefully out of the store…

Vincent had a good idea as to what this was all about now…Highwind had been making accusations of him being a vampire of sorts. When he pieced all the locations he had been to, it was only a matter of time before he put two and two together to identify the possible reason for his maid's behavior as of late. First Yuffie drags him to the spice vendor while facing him in front of a string of garlic cloves, and then she takes him to the church store to see what happens when he touches crosses and is splashed on the face with holy water…and due to the fact that he smelled the strong and disgusting scent of Highwind's cheap cigarettes nearby and had somehow sensed the feeling of smug satisfaction from Yuffie and the air of anger from Highwind, he could only guess that this was a betting situation.

Perhaps he'll humor those two on their bet…if only to listen to Cid let out every single one of the foulest curses he knew of from his mouth that would make every sailor and their wives blush. He'd be laughing to himself upon hearing him screaming out the word 'cunt', 'fuck', and even 'son of a bitch'…if only fate were so kind as to implement the timing of this event at his will. He then felt Yuffie drag him away again…he was beginning to have a hard time trying to mask his movements at the rate she was guiding him everywhere, but he had to keep his façade up…if only to witness the ending of this little bet…

They had finally made it to the park! Yuffie's photographic memory had served her well…and it just so happened that the best scenery in the park was within range of a creek and in the middle of sunlight…she had bested Cid in two parts of the challenge already, and so now is the chance to finally put this bet to the test…oh she knew how the whole bet would end up in her favor…and she would be winning indeed! And so she started moving towards the creek…and so the final phase of her plan would begin!

"Mr. Valentine, I'm very sure that today is a rather good day today…but perhaps by now your hat is making things too warm for you. Would you care to take it off?"

"Very well, I see no reason why I shouldn't."

With that, he simply reached up on his head, and pulled the hat off…no burns on him…not even steam…what was of interest to Yuffie however was the way he shook his hair loose, allowing the ebony curtain to fall around his shoulders in a brilliant cascade of the sunlight reflecting off the long strands. She just could not take her eyes off of her employer at the sight she had just witnessed before she snapped back to reality and silently started to set up the picnic—she could not get the sight out of her head. It was a good thing that nobody was looking because she was currently a shade redder than a tomato. "S-sandwiches sir?"

"That would be lovely. Why don't you join me?" Vincent simply sat down cross-legged on the blanket…now this in itself was odd, as normally the Wutainese have a habit of sitting down cross-legged while the westerners tend to favor allowing their legs to sprawl out a bit. Could it be that Valentine had a bit of Wutai in his blood, or was it a habit he picked up during his time in her home country?

Regardless, she brought out the sandwiches, and the wine and glasses, and placed them in front of her employer. The redness of embarrassment was still clear on her face as she quickly moved to set everything up good and proper.

After everything was set up, she watched as Vincent was feeling around in front him to look for his sandwich. Once his hand had felt the texture of the bread, he carefully snaked his fingers around to feel for the bottom, and finally lifted the food up and lifted it in both hands. "A shame that I can't see…but I can feel that today is a wonderful day. Wouldn't you agree Yuffie?"

"Uh…yes…it's actually a very beautiful day in fact…the sun is shining…the birds are chirping…and the creek is flowing ever so nicely. Today is actually a fine day for a picnic."

"Well-said Yuffie…why the way you act takes me back to the days when I still had my mother…"

"I'm sorry sir but…"

"There's nothing to feel sorry about. She is long gone…although to tell the truth, I still miss her…when I am caught in times of trouble, I tend to think back to better days…when I was a child—and I was much happier then than when I had to grow up fast. I suppose that's how it felt to truly be an orphan—especially with a father who was rarely ever home. But even then, I was content—even if my father refused to see us, I didn't care…at least I had someone who loved me."

Yuffie had heard…and she found herself looking at her employer…not realizing that she had been looking at him for almost ten minutes…and not hearing the string of curses erupting out of Cid's mouth extremely loudly. She just wanted to sit there…and look at him…

* * *

Tsukuyomi had finished looking through the reports and the diaries last night as Yuffie was going back to the mansion…if what he had read was true then they'd have to make their move tonight! It was a good thing that that plastic explosive he had requisitioned had arrived yesterday…he also has a blueprint of Hojo's laboratory, as well as an idea of what he was looking for…or rather who he was looking for. He would not let Hojo get away with this…not here and definitely not again! As he had stood on the building overlooking the mad scientist's home, he watched as a snowy-white owl flew overhead and landed onto his gauntleted arm—Izanagi had sent him a message in response to the report he had sent last night. Tsukuyomi took the message wrapped around the owl's leg, and began to read it in the moonlight.

"The gods have granted the god of the moon permission to wage war. Izanagi also requests that his daughter be safe in this mission and that if any harm comes to her, then the number of survivors from your village shall change from one to zero."

The spy laughed at that thought—oh he knew that his superior would say that! Godo…he really does care for everyone…his daughter especially. But then again, he needn't have worried in the first place—all operatives under his command tend to have a higher rate of survival than any other. "You're early."

Yuffie had landed next to Tsukuyomi as soon as he put the scroll away. _"What are we up to tonight?"_

"_Do you have your shuriken ready and still remember your special operations training with it?"_

"_Yeah. What of it?"_

"_Last night, I sent my report to your father. It seems that my mission would require me to hurry this up. Izanagi had just sent me his reply."_

"_What's the word?"_

"_We are good to go…"_

* * *

_**A/N: Now we are getting some actual action in the next chapter! Time for Hojo to pay for whatever it is that he did in the past…although I should perhaps make Yuffie question Tsukuyomi as to what his mission is, wouldn't you agree?**_

* * *

_**Songs Used:**_

"_**The Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" by Burt Bacharach—Yuffie guiding Vincent to the park.**_

"_**Great Buddha Temple" by Noriyuki Asakura—war against Hojo has been declared!**_

* * *

_**Vocabulary and Culture Notes:**_

**_Nirvana—Queen of the Cetra High Council; her name is the Buddhist version of heaven as it is the state of true enlightenment._**


	6. It's A Trap!

_**A/N: Serious combat is on the horizon, will our heroes be able to find what it is that they are looking for? Also, will Tsukuyomi's cover be blown? And to those who have not figured out who he really is by now, shame on you! Because of that, you get no cake (unlike in "Portal" the cake is **__**NOT**__** a lie…you're missing out on very good cheesecake)! In any case, do read and review all the same would you kindly?

* * *

**_

**After years of negotiations and thousands of battles, the Kingdom of the Sun and the Kingdom of the Moon had come to a truce and an agreement—neither kingdom was to fight over the world's supply of materia. The peace that followed had lasted only several years, and the tenuous alliance between the two kingdoms had threatened to shatter after one heart-breaking event. The ignition of the war had come when a member of the Kingdom of the Moon had been kidnapped in a desert near what would be known as Bone Village by soldiers belonging to the Kingdom of the Sun who proceeded to torture the poor soul to death under the pretense that the said member of the nomadic kingdom was a spy due to the fact that the member was protected by three slain soldiers. That member was but a child who was simply trying to bring water to his family from a nearby oasis—what those two soldiers did not realize in their ignorance, hatred, and foolishness was that they had not just tortured a child to death…their captain, upon discovering the heinous act and the identity of the little boy, had revealed to them that they had just started a war. For they have only recently tortured and killed the youngest son of JENOVA herself!**

**Sure enough on the next day, the captain found himself at the gates of the outpost he was assigned to protect, trying to console an extremely angry mother and her furious royal guard at his doorstep. The two soldiers who killed the boy had made another foolish mistake—a mistake that would they would most likely regret in their last moments; they insulted JENOVA, taunted her, mocking her and her people, as well as insinuating that their military was weak. They also made mention that her son had screamed like a girl as they beat him to death…saying that the Kingdom of the Moon was so weak compared to the justice that is from the Kingdom of the Sun that it was a mercy and an honor that the former would be wiped out by the latter. The captain had ordered both soldiers to be taken away, but it was too late; Queen JENOVA had silently ordered her royal guard to knock out the soldiers taking the offenders away and to bring the two of them to her private tent to administer karmic justice upon the two men, an order that they were happy to comply with, as many of the princesses happen to also be in the royal guard and all were close to the young prince. The captain had tried to save their skins so that they could be punished properly, but Queen JENOVA simply struck him across the face, and demanded the body of her son within two days so that she could bury him properly. If his body was not returned to her, then a war would begin—and not even the torture of the two soldiers responsible for the death of her son would be enough to stop them from openly waging war with the entire Kingdom of the Sun, as the people would be baying for blood at the death of not just their prince, but the death of an innocent child until the body of the child was returned to his family. With that, the Queen JENOVA and her royal guard vanished into thin air…taking the two fools with them, allowing their screams of pain and torment to be heard from every corner of the world.**

**As a courier was carrying the body of the prince to an oasis where Queen JENOVA said she was waiting, an assassin had killed the courier—and took the body away. Neither side would know that it was a Sun councilman with hidden racist views who hired that assassin to steal the body of the prince and allowed no word of the crime against Queen JENOVA in his area of the world to reach Queen Nirvana's ears. After seeing some sort of treachery, Queen JENOVA had brought her mightiest warriors together from all the tribes she had allied under her banner, and sacked the outpost before attacking the city that would later be known as Bone Village, starting a war that lasted hundreds of years and staining the land red with blood until the world was split apart by the great war.**

**The councilman responsible for this had not regretted his racism nor the bloodshed he had caused even when his hand-picked soldiers that shared his views had failed to decimate the Kingdom of the Moon as he had planned and so desired…he did not even repent when Queen JENOVA came to his chambers personally and took his head, even going so far as to call her a 'dirty slut' in his last moments. He believed that the Kingdom of the Sun would avenge him by waging a 'rightful' war against the 'Moon scum', and so moments before his rightful demise, he ordered his assassins to carry the body away and hide it well. While the sacking of Bone Village was taking place, the captain and all the civilians of that outpost where the crime against Queen JENOVA took place had managed to run to Gongaga, capital of the Kingdom of the Sun, reporting to Queen Nirvana herself every detail of the event that had happened from his viewpoint. Queen Nirvana let out a sigh with a heavy heart—she should have seen this coming from one of her councilmen…this was her fault, even if she did not kill the poor child herself. And now, she was going to wage war against her former friend over a bond that the councilman had broken in his foolishness and arrogance…a mess that neither she nor JENOVA had started, but she intended to finish and clean up.**

**-Excerpt from "The Stele of the Da Chao", translated by Georg Bugenhagen

* * *

**

The two of them stood on the building overlooking the laboratory that Hojo resided in. Yuffie and Tsukuyomi had been watching the guards as they made patrols in the area. Yuffie's anxiousness to do something was starting to eat at her…she could not stay still for long. "_What're we waiting for?_"

"_According to my informant in the police station, the patrols have been upped since my little…indiscretion. Luckily, I wiped the poor girl's memory after taking my fill of blood, making her believe that you got away after an animal had attacked her._"

"_Who is that informant of yours anyway?_"

"_Surely you know your own cousin?_"

Yuffie was shocked! Tseng was an informant? Before she could say a word, Tsukuyomi had hushed her quickly—how dare he! She was…_"We're waiting for a hole in the in the security before…now we move!"_

Tsukuyomi's moves were quick and graceful…the two police officers did not know what swept past them and into the darkness as they believed that it was the wind gliding past them silently—Yuffie on the other hand took advantage of her springy body type to bounce around past the cast-iron fence and land in the bushes. The security guards left their posts to investigate the sound…their footsteps drawing nearer and nearer towards her. She could then hear her heart pumping quickly until the rustling of the bushes sounded off and a gunshot was heard. She then took advantage of the noise to get against a wall only to feel a pair of hands quickly snake around and grab her by the mouth and by her ribcage just under her nearly nonexistent cleavage before she could scream, and then pull her into the shadows. From her peripheral vision, she saw that it was Tsukuyomi that had her due to his blood-red eyes that watched as the security guards went back to their posts.

It was not long until the two of them reached a checkpoint—a padlocked basement. Tsukuyomi silently took out a bobby pin, and inserted the pin into the lock, prying it open quietly with impunity…as though he had done this millions of times before. He then quietly opened the double-doors, and turned to Yuffie, nodding his head towards the doorway. No words were necessary…she quickly got into the door to the basement as Tsukuyomi shut the door behind them quietly before gripping her hand in his as he guided her around the pitch black darkness of the basement. It was actually very ironic in the role-reversal she had found—in the day, she was leading a blind man through the streets, and now she was being lead through the darkness by a vampire as if it WERE the daylight hour.

She then noted that their path was leading them towards an area with a lot of light. Yuffie was about to cower away, but whatever it was that was in the light was drawing Tsukuyomi closer and closer towards it. When they reached the source of the light, the two of them saw a small pool of blood on the floor…Tsukuyomi faced Yuffie, pointed at her, then at both of his eyes, and then at himself. The signal was clear—he wanted her to keep an eye out for surprises. She nodded in understanding, and pulled out a throwing kunai from her pouch and holding it in her left hand ready to throw at a moment's notice, and a kukri in her right hand preparing to hack apart anybody that got too close as she began scanning the area for any immediate threats. Tsukuyomi however carefully walked into the open ground, and crouched over the blood as he reached into the holster on his back to pull out a .38 caliber autoloader in his right hand and used his left hand to touch his index and ring fingers on the small pool, pull down his collar with the remaining two fingers, and suck the blood off both fingers…taking in all details from the taste.

Tsukuyomi then closed his eyes as if in disgust and spit out the blood. "_This is the worst thing I've ever tasted! This blood would have tasted like strawberry with a hint of kiwi had it not been so stale from being spilled and exposed to the elements and tainted with ether. It is type B positive…judging from the amount spilled here, I'd say that the assailant covered the victim's mouth with an ether-soaked cloth, and then stabbed the victim from behind with a straight-edged blade, barely hitting a vital area which I believe is likely the aorta of the heart with a relatively small cut—the damage was deliberate so as to let the victim bleed to death slowly as they dragged the unconscious victim, female and in her late twenties, away leaving a trail of blood. This was done hours before we arrived—I'd say about six or seven hours ago. It's likely that the victim has died already."_

"_How do you know this?"_

"_My senses are sharpened to the point that whenever I take in blood, I can see the last few moments of the owner's memories through his or her eyes. In addition to that, I can also sense a person's intent to kill and thus revealing potential enemies; and judging from the amount of malice I am picking up in this area, I'd say the killer is still here and waiting for us. It is also likely that our cover has already been blown to Hojo. They seem to want us to follow the blood trail…_"

The apprehension in Yuffie's voice was clear…she didn't want to be here because she knew what he was implying. "_What are we going to do?_"

Tsukuyomi simply holstered his autoloader, and pulled out a sawn-off double-barreled shotgun. "_We don't have a choice in the matter…the only direction we can go is forward. I can only guess that they have booby-trapped our way out the second they saw us walk in, which means that the only way for us to leave is through them. As far as I can see, only beasts are capable of rivaling my hunter's instincts with this level of cunning. I'm sorry I brought you into this…for it seems that our enemy at the moment is craftier than I thought._"

"_You do realize that you're not a very good boss._"

"_I know…I never considered myself ready for leadership either. Don't worry, I like you too much as a person to let you die for my mistakes, but I must remind you that it's very likely that we're going to have to fight our way out, so stay close and I'll provide you with covering fire when it is time for us to leave._"

Yuffie nodded in agreement as she brandished her throwing knife prepared to aid in fighting their way out as they started following the blood trail with Tsukuyomi taking point with his shotgun. As they walked through the area, she noted that this area was getting even more horrifying with each sight she beheld. Men contained in tanks, some with mutations that were too gruesome to describe…men that have been mutated beyond recognition as if they were mauled by bears. Some of the men in the tanks even have extra appendages—thus begging the question in her mind as to who would do such a thing. "_The man responsible for this abomination is none other than Hojo,_" began Tsukuyomi, as if reading her thoughts, "_that man is without a doubt a disgrace of a human being…and a traitor most foul._"

"_What do you mean by traitor?_"

"_Before I tell this story, what do you know of the Akatsuki village?_"

"_Not much, except that it was the capital of the Southerners and was the reason that South Wutai was so advanced as they themselves were able to reverse-engineer a lot of things traded from the Western Continents. I also know that they were the allies of North Wutai when Shin-Ra planned to build their mine on the general area of the Stele of Da Chao. I heard that the entire village was torn apart when Shin-Ra sent soldiers to attack…there were no survivors._"

"_True for the most part, although there are several inaccuracies that need to be clarified._"

"_What are you talking about?_"

"_I'll tell you more when we escape this alive…right now we need to see how badly we are compromised. The fact that we are being hunted tells me that Hojo has his own spy, and that spy has been watching my every movement as I've been spying on him likely with the latest orders being to make an attempt on my life. And knowing that traitorous dog, I am guessing he is simply taunting us with this poor soul that was murdered._"

"_Great…this mission is turning out to be a big failure…and what's worse is, the only way out is through a trap._"

"_We've yet to see if it is indeed a failure…although you may have jinxed it._"

Wondering what Tsukuyomi meant by that, Yuffie studied his face, and realized that they were already here. She then watched his gaze, and saw what he was looking at…the corpse indeed belonged to a woman, late twenties, rather beautiful. Her long hair was tied up in a yellow ribbon, and her lab coat indicated that she worked here. "_Who is she?"_

"_That is Doctor Lucrecia Crescent-Hojo…wife and assistant of the traitor Professor Shimura Hojo, and younger sister of General Sephiroth Crescent. She came to me the night after your arrival and sold information to me to help me bring down her husband; she had a guilty conscience that built up over the years, and wished for all this evil to be stopped immediately."_

Yuffie knew there was more to the mission, but she decided not to say anything—as of this moment, they had bigger concerns, such as how to leave this place. She then noted that Tsukuyomi was not paying attention to her, but he was looking at something in the upper part of the wall above the corpse of Doctor Crescent. She focused her eyes to the dark space, and saw a grisly message in kanji written on that wall in blood that read: 'The god of the moon is too late! His quest to avenge his people continues, and thus he shall remain the last of his people! But fear not oh almighty Prince of the Moon Kingdom, my plot will not start yet…after all, I intend to bring about a family reunion! And in the meantime, you and your accomplice shall entertain my newest experiment…she may not show it, but she is actually glad to see you.'

"_I was expecting the two you to come…_"

The two of them turned to see a young girl with auburn hair and form-fitting clothes brandishing a pair of cutlasses with bladed guards both held in a reverse grip. Yuffie studied the new arrival, and looked on at her commander—the new arrival had a deadpan face, while Tsukuyomi had a horrified look in his eyes as he aimed his shotgun at the girl.

"…_and I am especially glad that you've come Tsukuyomi…_"

"_Shelke…_"

* * *

_**A/N: It's a trap! How will this battle go? How does Tsukuyomi know Shelke? What is their connection? All this and more on the next few chapters. I apologize on its shortness and leaving us in a cliffhanger, but I wanted to punish the people who still haven't figured out Tsukuyomi's identity thus far.  


* * *

**_

_**Songs Used:**_

"_**Spirit of Fire" by Stephen Rippy from "Halo Wars"—Excerpt from the Stele**_

"_**Oda Nobunaga Theme" from "Sengoku Basara 2"—entering and traversing the lab.**_

"_**Evil" by Toshiro Masuda from "Naruto"—Shelke Appears

* * *

**_

_**Vocabulary and Culture Notes:**_

_**Kunai—this is a Japanese ninja weapon with a leaf-shaped blade; contrary to popular media, the kunai does not work like a knife so much as it does a crowbar as its edges are blunt and the tip is sharpened, and it is normally too heavy to be thrown.**_

_**Kukri—this is a curved Nepalese knife with a blade inside the curve that looks like a fish; this is a multi-purpose knife as it can be used in place of a tomahawk, but combat with this knife usually revolves around chopping the enemy to pieces (even though it is possible to do so, it is not very efficient for stabbing).**_


	7. Mist Walk

_**A/N: To those of you following this story, I apologize for the late arrival of this chapter; I can't seem to find a way to connect the new ideas I have for stories together. And even then, I found a distraction in "Halo: Reach" as I'm trying to earn enough credits to get the GUNGNIR helmet. In compensation for me being late, we have a fight scene in the chapter! As usual, your comments and reviews will help me in my writing significantly, so do read and review would you kindly?**_

* * *

_**Legend:**_

"Normal Speech"

**Excerpts**

_Thoughts_

"_Wutainese_"

* * *

"**Listen well, all of you! For now, I shall take my pound of flesh from these two child-murdering fools that have killed my son and his bodyguards as well as insulting us! To those of you from the kingdom that Nirvana had founded…to those of you that believe we of the Kingdom of the Moon are but the scourge of the world to the point that you think that she [Nirvana] would protect you and deliver divine justice upon us and wipe us off the face of the world, I shall call a plague upon you! You believe yourselves holier than us? Then I spit on your holiness! I curse the people that have allowed this to happen! I damn you all to hell for this crime! For the only scourge I see is the one that has wronged me…the scourge I speak of lies behind these city gates that you take pride in! You who would allow children to be murdered for your own pride and arrogance are the scourge I speak of! But fear not…my daughters and I are gnashing our teeth for vengeance, and yet as of this moment, we are not without mercy. I demand the body of my son to be returned to me at the oasis from whence he was abducted within three days and three nights…I wish to perform the proper funerary ritual as per the traditions of our people upon the body of my only son so that I may mourn for his death as a mother should mourn the death of her child—especially her youngest one. But if we do not receive the body in the time frame we have provided, then I shall call upon every chieftain of every tribe united and allied under my banner to declare war upon the arrogant Kingdom of the Sun until we get the body of my son back. We will not tire, we will not rest, and we will not falter—and if you shall continue to hide the body of my son, then I shall have my warriors kill every child in front of their families before they shall turn their blades upon every other man, woman and child until there is no Kingdom of the Sun left, and not even my friendship with Nirvana herself will save you! You have been warned!"**

**-Queen JENOVA's demand**

* * *

Yuffie looked at both her partner and the cutlass-wielding little girl. Noticing the connection between them, she had dared to break the silence with both knives in her hands. "_You know her?_"

"_Tsukuyomi and I go way back. In fact, he was the man I called brother._"

Tsukuyomi looked at the girl with suspicion in his eyes—but he knew that something was wrong…"_Shelke was a recently-added inhabitant of the Akatsuki Village. We had a tie that was as close to brother and sister that I could see. After the village was decimated, she went missing. Her body was not among the bodies of the villagers I had to bury on my own. Why she is here and against us, perhaps she can shed light upon._"

"_True enough Tsukuyomi…as you can see, I am not dead._"

"_How long have you been Hojo's spy before I even met you?_"

The deadpan look on Shelke's face had betrayed no emotion, but her eyes had spoken volumes of the surprise she felt. "_You knew?_"

"_I knew that Hojo was using you as a spy when I noticed you flinch upon encountering him. I also suspected you of being more than an ordinary girl from the way you carried yourself and the aura about you…and this was all on the day I found you in your cover as a lost little girl and I took you home. I had hoped that your stay in our village would have helped to heal your broken soul from the spy trade, while trying to encourage you to walk away from my path. Now that I see you before me, I now know that I was wrong to have trusted you._"

"_You're wrong! I betrayed nobody! Hojo had his sights on the Akatsuki Village and its people long before his betrayal of Wutai…when he had encountered the people of the Akatsuki Village, he envied their longevity and their prosperity…and their ability to learn quickly. I was merely a pawn in his game to ultimately destroy your people against my will…he killed my family and spared my sister, and in addition, he planted a mind control substance of his creation in an attempt to bind me to his will. For some reason, his substance didn't work on me when he had tested it on so many humans—but when he held my sister at knife-point; I had no choice but to obey._"

"_I ask you now Shelke, please leave. Even if I am angry at you for what you did, I can't find it in myself to kill you._"

"_You don't have any choice Tsukuyomi…as you have already concluded, the basement door is booby-trapped so that the only way out without attracting attention would be the front door…and even that is booby-trapped as well. Hojo had designed that explosive to detonate when my heart stops beating, or when you try to escape through one of those exits…I didn't have a say in the matter._"

Yuffie was sickened upon hearing this. Hojo was not just a traitor…and simply calling him a monster or a demon would have been a compliment…and all the curses she could think of for that traitorous and sadistic piece of shit were not enough."_Tsukuyomi, if you ever really treasured your bond to me as your sister, please—put me out of my misery…I've suffered too much without having this latest atrocity inflicted upon me, and I already know I will never see my sister in this life again._"

This time it was Yuffie's turn to speak…she was praying that what she was hearing was true. "_What do you mean?_"

"_After I awakened shortly after the bomb was linked to my heart, I saw what had happened to my sister…what he had done to her. It hurts just to remember now._"

The look of horror on her face had been clear—it was an answer that Yuffie didn't want to hear. Tsukuyomi balled his fists together, holstered his shotgun, and settled his hands near a pair hidden pair of wakizashi strapped to his lower back—even though he had to get past Shelke, he still had to make sure this battle remained silent, at least until the traps were set off. "_Please forgive me…_" With that, the two spies got together and teamed up on Shelke and the battle had started.

Tsukuyomi had begun the battle by charging in with a wakizashi drawn, the blade missing Shelke by her hairs and using the momentum of his swing to perform a butterfly kick before she rolled away and into Yuffie as she threw several knives in her direction to stop her from escaping and moving both cutlasses up to block a downwards slash from her kukri, before turning quickly…and barely avoiding getting stabbed by a wakizashi courtesy of Tsukuyomi, and countering with a straight kick and dodging a horizontal swing from Yuffie's kukri with a forward roll before she could swing her cutlasses in an x-shaped slash. "_You have seriously got to step it up Princess…and I know you are simply toying with me Tsukuyomi…there's no way to remove that bomb without killing me._"

Shelke continued the battle by charging in and somersaulting over Tsukuyomi and attempting to stun him with a kick to the back of his head and finishing him off by thrusting both swords into his rib cage and impaling both of his lungs with each of her cutlasses, before she moved on in for a left swing aimed at Yuffie, causing the latter to block with her kukri—the strike was so strong that her grip on the knife was loosened, and the right swing finally knocked it spinning out of her hand. Shelke performed a straight kick upon her opponent's throat before she brought both blades around and began a scissors movement before she was interrupted with a pair of blades digging into her subclavian arteries…her assailant had then turned around so that they were back-to-back, and pulled both blades out before she was kicked hard and spinning into a wall, and she felt pain as she was pinned to with her back to the wall by a pair of wakizashi impaling her wrists. She then looked on in shock to see Tsukuyomi stalking towards her…it was clear to her that he was the one who moved that quickly to do that to her, and it was also clear that he wanted her alive.

"_Impossible…a vampire should have been killed by now…_"

"_You're assuming that I am a normal vampire._"

When he was a few feet away from her, Tsukuyomi stopped and looked her in the eyes. The look of realization on her face was very clear. Oh she now knew why he led the Akatsuki village…and why she felt so calm around him while she lived in the village…and despite the poker face she put on, it was clear to him through her eyes that the revelation had made her sick with self-disgust! "_Shelke, I don't want to have to hurt you any worse than I have. Please tell me, what is Hojo up to?_"

"_Her vengeance shall be done, and Hojo wishes to aid her in that endeavor. And I think that you of all people should know the repercussions if she should reawaken._" The words that came out of her mouth had mystified Yuffie, but apparently Tsukuyomi was fearful of it…what is it that she was trying to say? However, the even bigger question that had popped up in her head had become very obvious, thus increasing her ominous feeling upon hearing those words: what is with that line that had her partner terrified?

At this point, Shelke was getting paler by the second…soon she would bleed to death. "_Fear not though Tsukuyomi, you have a bit more time…Hojo's experiments are not complete, and from what I've seen, he is only about halfway done. I am sorry for what I did…to you…to everyone…and I know I have no right to request this of you after all I've done, but I have a request of you…_"

Tsukuyomi walked closer to Yuffie, as if to shield the two of them under his cloak. "_Name it._"

"_When you find that bastard Hojo, make sure he suffers until his last breath…_"

It was then that Shelke had weakened, and died of her wounds…and sure enough, an explosion had followed her death while Tsukuyomi had transformed and took his partner with him in his transformation as an apparition of swirling red mist following a trail of blood-colored and tattered silk that sped through the air quickly and just in time to escape the explosion that destroyed the entire manor with a gigantic pillar of flame. It didn't take long for the firefighters to arrive on the scene with volunteers to put out the fire that was Hojo's mansion. Nobody cared to stay long enough to see a flash of red disappearing into the forest…

* * *

The red apparition found a spot in a clearing as close to the village as possible. As soon as the area was found, it swirled around, and Tsukuyomi released his partner. With a confused look on her face, and in a sitting position…she would be asking her questions in a moment, which would be right about…"_What in the name of Leviathan was that?_"

"_It's a trick that vampires have gained over the years—possibly due to a predatory lifestyle before we became more…mature and organized as a people. We call it, the 'mist walk', and attaining it was a rite of passage into adulthood for my people._"

"_What was it about that last line that got to you anyway?_"

Upon hearing that, the fear in Tsukuyomi's eyes returned. "_That is classified._"

"_Classified because you don't know? Bullshit. I saw the look in your eyes…you wouldn't be scared if you didn't know what Shelke was talking about. Now tell me what that was about, or else I'm telling my cousin that I'm going back to Wutai…and you'll have to do this on your own. So what'll it be?_"

It was a few seconds of silence, but that was all Yuffie needed to know. She turned around, and started walking away.

"_Wait._"

That last word was quick and terse, but that was all she needed to know that now he was going to confess. Yuffie turned around, and walked closer to listen carefully. The look of hesitation was clear in her partner's eyes, and the sound of him reluctantly speaking out his next sentence was clear in his voice. "_How familiar are you with the Stele of Da Chao?_"

"_I have a fairly good understanding of it._"

"_If I were to tell you that Queen JENOVA actually existed, what would you say?_"

The look of confusion on Yuffie's face was clear…but she smirked as if to humor him. "_I'd say 'what are you smoking?' and leave you be._"

"_Very good, you actually do your mother justice. But I am not pulling your leg in any shape or form. Queen JENOVA exists, and her anger and wrath is as real as the story in the Stele of Da Chao. I'd tell you more, but as it stands, dawn is approaching…we need to split up and get back into our covers. I'll meet you at the fountain tomorrow at midnight. I'll tell you everything I know then…and then after that, I want to see if we can find out where Hojo is hiding. Farewell Yuffie._"

Before she could say any more on the matter, Tsukuyomi vanished with his 'mist walk' technique, leaving her alone in the middle of the woods—the anger she felt at the moment was quashed as she needed to flee before her disappearance looked suspicious…

* * *

The next day…

Yuffie moved along the room with trays containing food in her hands…as she walked towards the piano room with Vincent playing on the piano, she began to ponder upon Tsukuyomi's words—Queen JENOVA exists? Of course she would still be mad that her son's corpse was not returned to her—hell, even Yuffie would be angry if her child had been killed by those assholes in the first place. Come to think of it, the Stele of Da Chao seemed to have been cut off in the middle of the story…perhaps Tsukuyomi, being the last of his people, knew about the other half, which would relate to his claim about Queen JENOVA's existence. Until then however, she'll have to wait until tonight to learn about it.

Upon hearing knocking she left the trays at the piano within reach of Vincent, and walked towards the front door. Upon opening the door, she saw a woman standing on the porch. She was taller, had hair the color of midnight tied behind her back in a red hair tie, and was wearing a white shirt with a black skirt. Her maroon-colored eyes made her look inviting to any man—as was the figure that any woman would kill for. She had a sort of motherly aura about her—coupled in with a large dosage of sincere kindness due to the smile she showed…that oh-so-warm-and-welcoming smile that put her to shame. "Oh hello, you must be the new maid. Is Vincent around?"

This woman knew Vincent? Who is she? Yuffie was rather conflicted about this woman—on the one hand she rather liked her and saw her as much of a sister-figure as Aeris; and on the other, she rather envied the beautiful women that seemed to know her employer. Hell, who is to say that Elmyra won't have a moment, and try to take the man she desired oh-so-much? Wait a minute…did she just think 'the man she desired oh-so-much?' Something clearly was wrong with her…and so she shook herself from her thoughts, and the disturbingly erotic images of Vincent wearing a dress and kissing her oh-so-passionately, and faced the woman with a smile on her face. "Uh, yes, as a matter of fact he is…would you like to sit down?"

"That would be lovely."

Yuffie guided the woman to a seat in the living room. She could not help but feel that this woman she was guiding to the recliner before her was stronger than she looked—she could feel the power behind the grip, no matter how much she tried to disguise it with an extremely gentle and delicate hand. The only question she had on her mind was how much power she really had. Once she sat the woman down, Yuffie turned to face the woman. "I'll be right back with him in a moment; but in the meantime, feel free to make yourself comfortable."

The second the other woman looked satisfied, Yuffie walked towards the piano…the music she was hearing was getting more and more beautiful as she walked closer and closer towards her goal. The tune she was listening to was so sad and intoxicatingly beautiful that she was getting more and more reluctant to interrupt her employer. "What is it Yuffie?"

"There's a lady sitting in the recliner…she wanted to speak with you."

"Very well then, take me to her please."

This would be the second time today she would be guiding somebody to the living room…but she rather enjoyed the more delicate touch of Vincent as much as the deceptively strong grip of the other woman. "Vincent, how good it is to see you!"

"Tifa, how good it is to hear your voice."

* * *

_**A/N: This fight scene is difficult…1 fighter vs. 1 fighter is easy—it's like playing a fighting game. 2+ fighters vs. 1 fighter is not an easy fight to write, especially for a longer amount of time…although I suppose it is a bit of a challenge that I have decided to experiment on. I'm willing to take on your theories as to why Tsukuyomi knows that Queen JENOVA existed…but I may reveal that sooner than expected.**_

* * *

_**Songs Used:**_

"_**Blood Pain" by Daisuke Ishiwatari from "Blazblue: Calamity Trigger"—Tsukuyomi and Yuffie vs. Shelke**_

"_**Evil" by Toshiro Masuda from "Naruto"—Tsukuyomi talks with Yuffie**_

"_**Wind" by Akeboshi—Vincent playing on the piano**_

* * *

_**Vocabulary and Culture Notes:**_

_**Wakizashi—the Japanese samurai short-swords…they normally have blades that are up to around 2 feet long.**_


	8. Surprise Surprise!

_**A/N: Sorry, not a lot of spy action here in this chapter, but I do plan to explain how Cloud met the spy and why he's working for him in the next chapter. We also get a good helping of music here as well…thanks to the duo of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. All the same, I ask all my loyal readers to please read and review would you kindly?**_

* * *

_**Legend:**_

"Normal Speech"

**Excerpts**

_Lyrics_

'_Thoughts'_

"_Wutainese_"

* * *

Oh Reno was not a happy camper…no, of all the times he had to be bloody working, this was not the ideal moment for him. Because of that rather fun firefighting action he witnessed, he lost his opportunity to ogle at that bird that operated the Seventh Heaven Pub and Inn...and perhaps get himself a frothy pint of Midgarian ale to give him a sense of being home or a cold mug of the famous local drink of Nibelheim honey lager to wash all unpleasant feelings away for his troubles while he's at it. Part of the good news with being so close to the fire was that he had a rather good alibi—and without any need for lying. Lord knows what would happen if the Sergeant caught him lying; everybody in the precinct knew that when lying to Sergeant Kisaragi, it is bloody tantamount to committing suicide due to the fact that Tseng was already a bloody natural at detecting lies. Worse news however was that he had to go out and investigate the bloody fire he so enjoyed with the new counterspy that got transferred in from Midgar with that lady Cissnei from Mideel...even better news however was that said counterspy looked just as good as that auburn-haired John Deut.

He enjoyed having a butcher's at the bird...hair as gold as the sun, long legs to compliment her petite frame, and the most stunning blue eyes he had ever seen. Blimey, if he didn't know any better, he'd say that he wanted this bird to be his troubles and strife...which was not very wise in his opinion—a hangover from a bit of rotgut beer was a better option if that were the case. Although he could go on looking at those bloody fine legs…and picture her wearing that white dress…and fantasize a veil covering her sun-kissed hair with her hand in his and saying…

Before he could continue on in his daydream, Reno felt himself painfully returned to reality by a rather light slap across his face. He reached up to his face, and rubbed the part where a pink handprint had appeared on his cheek "Cor, blimey! What the bloody hell are you…"

"We are here to investigate the explosion Captain, not to stare at my legs."

"I know but…"

"If you know what's good for you, you'll shut that mouth of yours now…but I'll tell you something; if you manage to help me find any evidence relating to this explosion that can explain what happened here, and the next blow I land upon you will be…of the pleasant sort."

BLIMEY! Now THAT was a deal…it was such a good deal that Reno ran off…oh there was no way in the nine bloody levels of Hell that he was going to miss such a possibility for a one-nighter! And with such a good-looking bird to boot! With that on mind, he went looking for as much evidence he could find, because for him, the possible opportunity for sex was by far the biggest motivation he ever had, and it was an opportunity he absolutely refused to pass up!

* * *

**Marcellus my friend,**

**It has been too long since I last saw you. It had been a long time since we last reunited with our comrades and our wives...I miss the feel of the beach under my feet as I walk my estate with Gaia holding my hand. When I last saw her, she told me something I had been pondering for a while now...that whomever that had aggravated this war by stealing the corpse of Queen JENOVA's son and hiding it would be cursed and damned for such a despicable act. It was an act that even she found was worthy of sending those who performed the act to the lowest tiers of hell; it was an act that I have wanted no part of at all…but I wanted to help you all weather out this storm that we have found ourselves in because of my brotherly bonds to you and the other conspirators.**

**But I digress; you must not wish to hear of my ranting...rather, you wish to hear of my report on the enemy from my experiences thus far, do you not? To be quite frank, I cannot in all honesty claim that we can win this war that we have added more fuel to. To begin with my report, I shall review what we know, and what I've discovered.**

**We all knew that when we aided in rekindling the fires of war with the Kingdom of the Moon, that they were smaller in number compared to the Kingdom of the Sun, and were technologically inferior to us. We have wished for a war against a small and weak and inferior foe with a victory in our favor—how ironic it is that we wished for a war and it is our enemy that is defeating us. While it is true that we are numerically and technologically superior to the Kingdom of the Moon, their warriors are all highly-trained veterans by the time we were all sucking on our mothers' breasts—this is because before anybody in any of the tribes under the Kingdom are to be accepted as citizens, they are all to serve a tour of active military duty and to be a member of the military reserve...this training is so intense that even their civilian reserve militia are capable of taking on ten of our soldiers, retreating to safety in order to recuperate, and then return to take on another ten soldiers. I've even seen one of their professional soldiers ambush a heavy cavalry unit all on his own and then retreat to the safety of the forest after killing every one of them, steed and all!**

**We also underestimated their smaller size—how they managed to go so far on so little resources, I may never know; but in any case, this ability of theirs to make full use of any amount of resources has truly earned my respect. Another thing that had gotten my respect ties in with their resourcefulness, as because of their smaller numbers, they are much faster and stealthier…this is due to a rumor I've heard stating that almost an entire camp of three-hundred soldiers was slain by a girl from the Moon Kingdom armed with a pair of combat knives leading a raiding party of almost twenty scouts (I have reason to believe that one of the dead prince's older sisters was among the royal guard that night…where the other guardsmen were openly mocking us with harsh words, she glared at me especially with such a cold hatred I've never seen before).**

**What I am about to reveal to you now however, is most disturbing…for it appears that Queen JENOVA had lifted the ban on drinking blood for non-medicinal purposes with regulations to avoid addiction and overdosing. We all know what happens when a member of that kingdom drinks blood for pleasure…once they overdose on the sanguine liquid, they tend to go berserk and attack anything that would sate their newly-found addiction for blood that is tempered by a pack mentality that they have also gained, obeying only commanders with a higher tolerance for blood addiction. I've recently seen some members of the Moon army drinking the blood of our dying soldiers to heal, and then drinking even more shortly before they were ordered to attack us…I was lucky to have survived that encounter at the cost of my right hand.**

**This war has lasted long enough. We have underestimated our enemy, and they were able to match our forces blow for blow thus far. We need to return the body to Queen JENOVA immediately—no amount of glory is worth the bloodshed we have caused. If we do not, then I fear that the worst of this situation has yet to rear its ugly head before us.**

**Sincerely,**

**Gaius**

**-General Gaius Lucien Pontius' letter to General Marcellus Seifer**

* * *

Yuffie looked on at the two of them with confusion in her eyes. Who was this woman that knew her employer? And what was with the loving feeling in the air between them? Were they former lovers? Although as she studied the loving look in her eyes, Yuffie had realized that the aura they radiated was that of love between siblings instead of lovers. Still, it was pretty obvious they were close. "Yuffie I'd like for you to meet one Miss Tifa Lockheart," said Vincent, "she owns and operates the Seventh Heaven Tavern downtown."

"A pleasure to finally meet you, although I must apologize; I've been too busy lately to actually have a chance to visit."

"Apparently, she was the other person to pay for your hiring fee…behind my back I may add."

"Now Vincent, you can't be angry at us for worrying about you…especially in your condition."

"And I thank you both for your concern. Now judging from your heartbeat, I can tell that this is not a social call. Would you mind telling me what is the matter at the bar?"

The look on Tifa's face fell from sisterly love to a sort of desperation. Something was wrong. "You always seem to catch the most subtle details, and once you do, you're always into business first…I suppose that's a quality I like about you. Would you per chance have heard of Wedge Antilles?"

"I've heard a little bit about him; I believe he is a pianist, works in a band, rather talented…I have high expectations for him and his band due to their combined skill and soul. You've currently got them booked at The Seventh Heaven starting tonight so I've heard. Is there something wrong?"

"Well, a telegraph had just arrived just today bearing ill news—his mother has died, and he has to attend her funeral in Corel. I know you normally cover the bar shift once every night or so, but I need you to help take care of the pub for the rest of the week while he is gone, because in addition to the usual patrons of police officers and drunkards, there's word that a convoy of soldiers is on their way here after a long patrol. There's no doubt that there will be a lot of business at both the bar and the suites, and so I need you to hold Wedge's routine at least until he gets back."

"Very well then, it seems I'll have some steady pay for once. It's the least I can do for you after you and Elmyra hired Yuffie for me. When do I start?"

"Tonight…I need your help as soon as possible as I will be very busy, and if I don't have a pianist for the band, the customers would very likely start to riot and begin looting my tavern. I will have Highwind pick you up around 7:00. Thank you Vincent, thank you very much!" With that done, Tifa Lockheart left, the desperation in the air had dispersed with the look of relief that was on her face before she turned and left.

Yuffie turned to Vincent, with a look of wonder upon her face—although it would appear as though her employer had a feeling that she was going to ask a question. Slightly raising his head, he silently beckoned her to fire away. The concern in her tone was evident, as she wondered if Vincent was able to handle this sort of pressure. "How well do you know Wedge's repertoire?"

"Wedge Antilles and his band 'The Rogues' have played in the pub quite a few times now whenever they are in town. We have crossed paths once or twice, and I have had the pleasure of listening in on their music—the band is already rather good at improvisation, and they have once invited me to play a song with them. I suppose it's time to mix things up with them, by starting with a solo that I've had on mind for a while now."

* * *

Cloud Strife was wondering as to the nature of his current set of orders…his employer Tsukuyomi had ordered for him to arrive at the Seventh Heaven Pub at around 7:30. As he sat at the fountain to pass the time, he began to contemplate everything that had happened so far. He was specifically ordered to wear a hooded robe so as to conceal his identity—that made sense, considering that he was technically a traitor to his country now. But looking at things from a different perspective, Cloud wondered if he should be the one to be tried for treason, or King Hans Shin-Ra…but all things considered, King Shin-Ra was the traitor to his country because he had no business asking the Wutainese to give up that piece of land they considered sacred. Knowing the king, he didn't care about a so-called 'heathen religion' nor did he care about the so-called 'corrupt parliament' and a 'nagging wife', he just wanted more money to line his pockets; and so it came to no surprise that against the wishes of the native Wutainese, he gave the excavation teams permission to dig up the earth in that location. It was also no surprise that there would be retaliation on behalf of the Wutainese, as the excavators were destroyed and the excavation teams were told at arrow- and gunpoint that they were to never return lest those same arrows and bullets found their way into their skulls.

Queen Valeria Shin-Ra was outraged at this behavior…and being a woman that respected other cultures and their traditions, she continuously urged her husband to stop the foolishness before it became a war. Her husband, so consumed with rage and greed, failed to listen; the result of ignoring his wife would cost the Shin-Ra Kingdom millions upon millions of gil to fight, and traumatized so many of her veterans of the war even after it had been won. He very distinctly remembered every battle, up to the day he was cursed by Tsukuyomi himself for his part in the destruction of his village…before he could think any more on the past, Cloud pulled out the pocket watch and checked the time—it was almost 7:20…what was it that Tsukuyomi wanted him to do?

It was then that he saw a very familiar carriage drive up to the pub, and then stop. It was none other than Highwind. He wouldn't blame the grim look on the man's face though…according to what he heard from word of mouth, he had lost quite a bit of his salary in trying to gamble for more money. It was also no surprise to Cloud that it was likely some cheating was involved. If only Highwind knew how right he was about the existence of vampires…but in any case, he had every reason to be grim, especially with the appearance of a couple that walked on out of the carriage. The Wutainese girl was obviously a maid given her attire—oh he recognized her all right. She was the contact he delivered that shipment of plastic explosives to, but her apparent employer was definitely Mr. Valentine…what was he doing here?

It was then that Valentine was guided into the pub by his maid…was that a cover? It was then that Cloud began to contemplate on the identity of Vincent Valentine. Who was he? He hadn't shown up in the archives at Nibelheim, and yet he claimed to be the illegitimate son of the late General Grimoire Valentine. Although now that he thought about it, Vincent did look like his father, but something seemed off about him…familiar even. Well, no sense in waiting out here anymore…perhaps she would be kind enough to enlighten him as to what he's doing here. Probably get himself a drink or two and keep an eye on Tifa while he's at it. But at the same time, he needed to keep an eye out for Tsukuyomi. The letter, word for word, had read:

"Come to the Seventh Heaven Pub at 7:30 at night.

I would recommend that you dress properly…it wouldn't do to be discovered.

It is time we finally meet face-to-face.

Don't bother trying to find me…I'll find you.

In the meantime, enjoy a drink to go with the music."

There was lots of noise in the bar…the patrons were all getting restless without any music, and the band was missing their pianist. It was then that he knew what Valentine was doing here…he was here to substitute the pianist that the band seemed to be lacking. It wasn't long until he found an empty table. "Hello sir, can I take your order?"

Cloud recognized that voice; he simply sat down and got himself settled. "I'd like a pint of ale, and the house special if you would be so kind."

"Very well then, I'll have your order ready in a moment."

He watched from the shadows of his hood as Tifa walked away…she seemed to have aged well, making her even more desirable to his eye—her curves have filled out, and she was as pure as ever. Yes, this would be a good time to relax for a bit…albeit with a disguise. His moment of relaxation was disturbed when he heard the sound of someone stumbling over and falling. He turned to see Vincent Valentine on the floor and trying to get up.

It wasn't long until the maid arrived, picking up her employer. "What are you trying to do? Get me unemployed?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just so used to walking around here that I forget that some of the patrons like to pull pranks."

During the conversation, Cloud felt something jammed into the lapel of his robe, and into the pocket inside in a split-second movement. As he watched the maid lead Vincent away, he knew it was safe to see what was in his pocket—and it was a small piece of folded paper. He unfurled it, and read it. His eyes had widened upon seeing the message.

"Meet me at the lavatories after the bar is empty."

Cloud watched as Vincent was settled down at the piano…the area of the pub he was seated in was deliberately designed so that not only would the sound be carried through the bar easily, but also for people that wished to dance. The space in front of the amphitheatre where the musicians played was actually good for that purpose, and to that end, he cleared his throat. "May I have everyone's attention?"

It was then, that the entire pub was silenced—from the toughest of soldiers to the most reserved of ladies, everyone had turned their attention to the pianist.

"I thank you all for coming on this lovely night! For the first performance, I shall start with a solo. Anybody that wishes to dance, please don't hesitate to come on up and enjoy the beat. And without further ado, I shall begin!" With the crack of his knuckles, he began to play; the beat was energetic, it got so many people walking up, and dancing…it didn't get any better until he opened his mouth to sing.

_Last night, I had a dream about you_

_In this dream, I'm dancing right beside you_

_And it looked, like everyone was having fun_

_The kind of feeling, I've waited so long_

_Don't stop! Come a little closer!_

_As we jam, the rhythm gets stronger_

_There's nothing wrong with a little, little fun_

_We were dancing all night long_

_The time is right to put my arms around you,_

_You're feeling right I'll wrap my arms around you,_

_But suddenly, I feel the shining sun_

_Before I knew it, this dream was all gone_

_Oh! I don't know what to do_

_About this dream and you!_

_I wish this dream comes true!_

_Oh! I don't know what to do,_

_About this dream and you!_

_We'll make this dream come true!_

After this part, the beat began to get heavier…this did not decrease the energy of the beat…but all throughout the song, Cloud could see himself in the position of the person in that song with Tifa being the woman he was dancing with. Not bad, considering that that blind man was going to be meeting with him shortly…perhaps this was a final song for him…whatever the case, if he was going to die, he may as well enjoy the music before doing so.

_Why don't you play the game?_

_Why don't you play the game?_

Cloud began to wonder…and then he understood. This song was speaking to him! How did he know of his connection to Tifa? Perhaps the best opportunity to ask him would be at the meeting he would be having with him later…

* * *

Even through the deafening clapping, Yuffie could not believe her ears. Most of the songs she had heard Vincent play were slow and sad songs…this song however was rather good actually—it made her happy…and it made her wonder why she had not confessed anything to either Vincent or Tsukuyomi. Oh wait a minute! That was because she was confused as to whether she loved the good and safe person that was Vincent Valentine, or the dangerous excitement of Tsukuyomi!

"For the next song, I will have someone sing with me…it is a song I have learned in Wutai, and with the introduction of the piano into its repertoire, it was sung with love in mind. So I welcome everybody to give a hand to Miss Yuffie Kisaragi!"

Yuffie looked to her employer with a look of incredulity on her face, before facing the crowd. "Hello everybody, I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, and I'll be singing for you as of this moment. I only hope that the band will be kind enough to me, but here goes…"

* * *

The crowd did not understand the language that the young maid was singing in, being in a Wutainese dialect and all, but they could sense the feelings behind it…and why it was a song of love. With the band finally joining in, they pictured the story of a maiden awaiting her beloved, and when he came back, she was ecstatic at his return—the welcoming back and catching up was the most romantic scene they had ever imagined. When the song was finished, the clapping was for the maid. Even the band members themselves were floored by the voice this girl had on her.

It was a good hour before everyone decided to leave…except for Cloud who had snuck his way into the lavatories. The odd thing was that Tsukuyomi was not here…strange, why would he say to meet him here unless…

"Don't move if you value your life."

* * *

_**A/N: I've found that I rather like Daft Punk…especially with several of their tracks in "Discovery". I wonder what that song would sound like if it were played in the way it was meant to be played on the piano. It is an energetic song, so I don't see why people want to mellow out a bit with it on the piano. I couldn't find the lyrics to "Seria's Song", so I unfortunately had to skip it…listen to it on Youtube, and you'll see what I'm talking about. **_

* * *

_**Songs Used:**_

"_**Space Pirates" by Waterflame from "Castle Crashers"—Cloud hiding about**_

"_**Digital Love" by Daft Punk from "Interstella 5555" and "Discovery"—Vincent plays in the tavern.**_

"_**Seria's Song" by Choi Hyeon A from "Dungeon & Fighter OST"—Yuffie singing the second song.**_

* * *

_**Vocabulary and Culture Notes:**_

_**None Available**_


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